Je suis Diesel! Twitter salute to a hero dog
And how breed is a soldier’s best friend
THE death of police dog Diesel in the Paris raids has inspired hundreds of tributes from pets around the world – with a little help from their owners. The Belgian Shepherd was gunned down on Wednesday after she was sent into the Saint-Denis flat ahead of officers to sniff out explosives.
Jean-Michel Fauvergue, who led the raid, told a French newspaper there was ‘little doubt that she saved the lives of police officers’.
And tributes have poured in online, using the Twitter hashtags #JeSuisDiesel and #JeSuisChien – French for ‘I am dog’.
One pet was photographed on its hind legs, holding a French flag, while others have been pictured with signs hailing Diesel as a ‘hero dog’.
Diesel – part of elite counter-terrorism unit known as RAID – was a variety of Belgian Shepherd called a Malinois. They are smaller and more nimble than their hefty cousins, making them more suitable for entering buildings. They are energetic, intelligent, protective of their handler and have an intense ‘prey drive’ – making them superb hunters.
Many elite military and police units use Malinois: the American Secret Service, the Israeli Defence Force and the elite US Navy SEALs, which took a Malinois called Cairo on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.
In the UK, at least two Special Forces units use these brave dogs – the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS).
For two years Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox, who served with the SBS, handled a Malinois called Jarno – an essential part of his team in Afghanistan. ‘The dogs are what we like to call a “force multiplier”, as they dramatically increase our effectiveness,’ says Foxy. ‘And there’s no doubt that they’ve saved a lot of British lives.’
Although Foxy remains tightlipped about operations he and Jarno served on, he can reveal the nature of those missions, as well as how Jarno was trained. Much of Jarno’s training involved teaching the animal to operate in built-up areas. Jarno also had to grow accustomed to helicopters, with dogs even strapped to their handlers to abseil from helicopters 90ft in the air.
A typical SBS mission in Afghanistan would involve raiding compounds and houses to capture or kill high-value targets.
Jarno would be equipped with special vest – a ‘canine tactical assault suit’ – costing about £60,000. Much of the animals’ equipment is classified but we do know they wear ‘doggles’ – dog goggles – which have thermal and infrared cameras.
‘That gives us a great heads-up and, as we know what’s around the corner, it saves lives,’ reveals Foxy. But perhaps the dog’s best bit of kit is their nose – ‘invaluable if a building is booby-trapped,’ says Foxy.
Unlike poor Diesel, Jarno survived his many firefights and missions.
But Foxy carried a medical kit in case Jarno was injured. ‘All the guys would have been hell-bent on getting him out of there,’ says Foxy. ‘They’re certainly not expendable.’
Like Jarno, there can be no doubt Diesel’s brave work was highly valued by her comrades – and, now, by others around the world.