Bring black Labradors and the military into the same conversation and most people immediately think of the Dam Busters – those brave fellows of Operation Chastise fame. Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his faithful canine companion, whose name I shan’t repeat owing to it’s highly offensive nature. The important thing is that Guy Gibson was a Lab owner, which is all you need to know when it comes to judging a chap’s character.
So to Labs MIA. A refreshing piece of news, as reported in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, has come out of Afghanistan about Sabi, a four year old explosives detection dog trained to sniff out IEDs. The Australian special forces black Labrador ended up missing in action last year towards the completion of her second tour of duty, but remarkably an American soldier found her alive and well in the remote province of Oruzgan a few days ago.
Sabi? As in the African River? Or perhaps after the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi in which one finds ‘beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature’? Regardless, the whole story warm the cockles of the heart, etc, etc . . . .
