By all accounts, she was the first Search and Rescue dog, and her name was “Beauty.” She was a Wire Haired Terrier who, during the Battle of Britain, rescued many, many fellow animals from the rubble in the aftermath of the Blitz, but more than that, she turned on the proverbial light bulb in authorities and persuaded them to consider that there could be value in animal search and rescue teams.

Beauty’s grave at the Ilford Animal Cemetery, Acabashi – own work, Wikimedia Commons

It began with her owner, Bill Barnet, who brought Beauty along for company as he attended bomb sites. Bill was a superintendent for the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Animal Rescue Squad Set, and one day,  Beauty began to dig through the rubble. She found a trapped cat. The cat was just the first of 63 animals that Beauty went on to save, despite never having been trained for the job.  For her service, Beauty was granted several honors in recognition of her work before she passed away in 1950. She received the PDSA Pioneer Medal (usually reserved for humans), a special collar ‘For Services Rendered’ from the Deputy Mayor of Hendon, and the freedom of Holland Park. But in 1945, Beauty was given the Dickin Medal, commonly referred to as “the animal’s version of the Victoria Cross.”  It’s is the highest award any animal can receive while serving in military conflict, and acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery or devotion to duty displayed by animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defense units in any theatre of war throughout the world.  Rest in Peace, Beauty.