Police dog up for award after saving woman and baby from ravine on first-ever shift
A police dog has been nominated for a bravery award after finding a missing woman and her baby on a perilous steep ravine on his first-ever shift.
Max has reached the final four of the Hero Pets category in global-hearing specialist Amplifon’s Awards For Brave Britons 2021 after playing a crucial role in leading police to the missing pair.
The German shepherd and his handler Pc Peter Lloyd, of Dyfed-Powys Police, were on their first shift together when they were deployed to the search for the missing woman and her one-year-old child.
The woman had not been seen or spoken to for two days, which was out of character, and her phone wasn’t working.
A reservoir and woodland were scoured by Brecon Mountain Rescue Team and a police helicopter as well as a search expert and additional policing units.
Max, then aged two, covered a significant distance to track the mother and baby down within 90 minutes, putting into action his specialist training.
The pair were searching in a deep fern area when they heard a shout, before Max began to guide Pc Lloyd to where he thought the sound was coming from.
Pc Lloyd spotted the missing woman waving for help on the mountain side and was able to get to her before alerting his colleagues. She was helped down and both were checked over by a doctor and the ambulance service.
The incident happened just five months after Pc Lloyd and PD Max first met and was their first job as partners.
Pc Lloyd said: “Police dogs train hard for these types of situations and Max had had about 15 months of training at that point, but it was still a great result on his first shift after such a long and difficult search.
“He remained focused on the task in hand and proved invaluable at guiding us to where the woman and her baby were, ensuring they got to safety as quickly as possible.
"He has since been called out to search for other high-risk missing persons, which is common in this area, and we’re all really proud of him.”
Max and Peter will now be invited to the virtual awards presentation on October 5. The event will be hosted by BBC1 TV Breakfast and Radio 5 Live presenter Rachel Burden and Falklands War hero Simon Weston will be guest of honour.
