Deadlier than the male….

(Sombra above)

(Above)

She was in her prime, an attractive young lady who was so adored that people queued up at her place of work for a selfie. She adored people, particularly children but never allowed herself to be distracted as any failure on her part could be catastrophic for some. For her, the days started early, at 6 o’clock in the morning she was resplendent in her stylish tailored jacket. She was very happy in her work at the airport. She was very good at it, and her productivity rate was unsurpassed. In fairness, her work schedule was not onerous, and she was generally only working for six hours at a time. However, the concentration required was intense. As the days were fairly short she was home by the early afternoon for a carefully prepared lunch. She even had her own limousine, and like all celebrities, her vehicle had tinted windows. She was chauffeur driven to and from work every day, and as with all famous or important individuals she had her bodyguards. It should be pointed out that her bodyguards came with a slight difference from the norm. They were heavily armed, and by heavily armed, I mean machine gun type armed and there were a lot of them! So important was she that she was guarded like royalty 24 hours a day. At 6 years of age, her value rose to $70,000 and her name? Sombra; which translated into English is Shadow

Why was she worth millions of pesos, roughly $70,000? Well, that was the bounty offered to anyone who was willing to arrange her demise because you see she had caused a high degree of annoyance to certain people. It must be said that not everybody wanted to pose for a selfie with Sombra because, you see Sombra was, in fact, an extraordinary canine.

She was, without a doubt, the most exceptional drug detection dog in Columbia. She was so successful that she was personally responsible for finding 9 tons of cocaine and the incarceration of 245 people.

Nothing that the dealers tried appeared to disturb Sombras’ rhythm. The dealers will have tried all ways to get the merchandise through but all failed. Bleach, curry, onions, sealed containers, zip locked bags, even concealing drugs in dog food would fail to fool the canine super sleuth.

As a result of her interference in the lives of the drug cartels and the consequential loss of income, $70,000 was offered to anyone who managed to “remove” her from the scene. The authorities heard about the plot and relocated her from the area where she was working and Sombra was moved to the capital as the price on her head rose. Her next destination was the Eldorado Airport at Bogota to be further away from the cartel’s headquarters. Not that this improved matters for the drug cartels as Sombra continued to find cocaine hidden in every conceivable type of merchandise, from fresh fruit and vegetables to leather goods.

In her day, Sombra was probably one of the most heavily guarded dogs in the world.

Acquired at 4 weeks of age and raised by the men of the 11^th Pennsylvania volunteer Infantry Regiment Sally became the regiment’s mascot during the American civil war. She trained, marched and was with them when they went into battle. Sallie was at the battle of Gettysburg, and as the battle raged, she became isolated from the men. She was eventually found guarding the wounded and the bodies of the fallen.

In the battle of Hatchers Run, Sallie was shot and killed, and so devoted were the men to their mascot that they buried her on the battlefield as the fight raged all around. There is a monument to the 11^th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg, which includes a likeness of Sallie

With her long droopy ears and lugubrious expression, she looks so harmless, just another large, floppy, cuddly canine. Appearances, however, can be deceptive as Max is actually a member of the Mexican Marines and once she is fitted with her uniform jacket, she knows that she is in work mode. And her job? She is one of that special breed that is famous for having a unique skill. She is a tracker dog. The bloodhound has various nicknames, the most common being “A nose on four legs” and “A nose with a body attached.”

This bloodhound was tasked with finding the wanted drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero. She found him!! He was hiding in bushes in a town called San Simon Sinaloa, He was wet, cold and best not pleased to be found as he was facing extradition to the USA and the possibility of being incarcerated for the rest of his life.

She entered a shipping container in her homeland Spain, probably out of curiosity. The giant door slammed shut. She was trapped. The journey to Panama took 20 days and then, having arrived, the container sat in the heat and humidity for another 20 days before it was opened. Incredibly she was still alive. For 40 days, she had no food and survived by drinking condensation, her own urine, and any rainwater she could obtain from a small hole in the corroded wall of the container. She weighed just 4 kilos (9lbs), having lived off her body fat.

Milagros, Mili for short means miracle and in truth, I have never heard of a dog surviving without food of any sort for 40 days. It does seem incredible, but the story of Milagros doesn’t end there. This extraordinary canine was found to be a highly talented, eminently trainable sniffer dog. So after a period of rehabilitation and care, her weight back to12.2kikos (22lbs), Milagros became a government employee. Mili, the miracle dog, works at the capital’s airport, where she examines travellers’ luggage to detect if there are illegal fruit and vegetables that may bring diseases into the country. Considered to be even more effective than any scanner Mili is reckoned to be exceptionally good value for money. She arrived for free and only requires feeding, playtime and some fuss!!

She was a crossbreed, her appearance in this world wasn’t planned. She couldn’t be classed as a classic beauty, in fact, it could be argued that she was just another plain nondescript brown dog, but this unremarkable dog had a truly remarkable life. She joined the US Marine Corps as an explosive detection dog. Whilst serving in Iraq and Afghanistan over a 6-year period she undertook some 400 missions during which she saved countless lives. During her last tour of duty, she lost a leg from the blast of an IED. Her military career over, she retired and went to live with retired Master Sergeant Chris Willingham. She became the first Marine Corps dog to be awarded the Dicken Medal the canine equivalent of the Victoria Cross, which, due to its rarity, is considered to be the world’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.