Hero dog's World War II medal sold in UK auction

[April 25, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- A medal awarded to a dog who sniffed out survivors in rubble of the Blitz was sold at auction in London on Friday for 24,250 pounds ($35,700.)

The buyer at the sale at Spink auctioneers chose to remain anonymous. The sale price was 10,000 pounds higher than the estimate, and beat the previous record of 23,000 pounds for the Dickin Medal awarded to Simon, the ship's cat on HMS Amethyst.

The Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animals, was awarded to a dog named Rip who was credited with finding more than 100 people trapped by German bomb damage in World War II.

Rip had been found abandoned in an air raid shelter and was adopted by an air raid warden.

Maria Dickin, who established the medal program, decorated Rip in 1945. He died in 1948 and is buried in a pet charity cemetery in east London.

Among the 62 animals awarded the Dickin Medal are dogs, pigeons, horses and a cat.

---

On the Net:

Dickin Medal, http://www.pdsa.org.uk/page309.html

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.