PDSA Gold Medal

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The PDSA Gold Medal - awarded "for animal gallantry and devotion to duty".

The PDSA Gold Medal is an animal bravery award that acknowledges the bravery and devotion to duty of animals. It was created by the PDSA in 2002, and is now recognized as the animal equivalent of the George Cross.

An animal can be awarded the PDSA Gold Medal if it assists in saving human or animal life when its own life is in danger or through exceptional devotion to duty. The medal can also be awarded to animals in public service, such as police or rescue dogs, if the animal dies or suffers serious injury whilst carrying out its official duties in the face of armed and violent opposition.

The PDSA Gold Medal has been awarded nine times since the first awards were announced in November 2002. All nine recipients were dogs:

Endal - a canine partner who placed his owner in the recovery position, covered him with a blanket and pushed his mobile phone against his face. Not until his owner had regained consciousness did Endal leave his side to fetch help
Metropol Delta Monty ("Monty") - a police dog, who overpowered a man wielding a knife despite being stabbed several times
Bulla - a police dog who was killed in 1990 after being stabbed while apprehending a man brandishing a butcher's knife
Blue - a police dog, who despite being stabbed while hunting a violent suspect, followed the man to his hideout and assisted in his disarming and arrest
Zoltan - a police dog who was stabbed while attempting to disarm a man who had been threatening members of the public and the police with a knife
Orca - a canine partner who fetched help when his wheelchair-bound owner fell into a water-filled ditch and was pinned face-down in the water under her motorised chair. Although the first person he encountered believed he was lost and tried to lead him away, he broke free from his collar and eventually led his owner's neighbour to the scene of the accident
Dylan - a member of the Northern Ireland Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA), Dylan rescued several climbers in bad conditions and later located survivors in the Turkish earthquake in 1999
Cracker - Dylan’s brother, was also part of the 1999 Turkish earthquake search team locating bodies trapped in the debris. He is the only dog in the UK trained to locate bodies in water
Bamse - mascot to the Royal Norwegian Navy minesweeper, Thorodd, in World War II, he knocked a knifeman into the sea, and later saved a crew member from drowning.

The Dickin Medal, a separate award also administered by the PDSA, was established by Maria Dickin, founder of the PDSA, in 1943, to acknowledge acts of outstanding bravery by animals serving with military forces in theatres of war, and is considered the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.