Sadie ( dog ) Sadie , ( born 1996 ) , a black Labrador Retriever , is a recipient of the Dickin Medal , the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross . She was awarded for detecting an explosive device outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul in November 2005 , and was awarded by the Princess Alexandra on 6 February 2007 . Her handler at the time of the action which resulted in the award was Lance Corporal Karen Yardley . Military service . Trained in Leicestershire , Sadie served in Bosnia , Iraq , and Afghanistan and was part of the 102 Military Working Dog Support Unit of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps ( RAVC ) based in Sennelager , Germany . She has served for two years and has completed two tours of duty with her handler Lance Corporal Karen Yardly ( female RAVC soldiers can serve on the front lines , unlike infantry ) . Following her military service and the awarding of a Dickin Medal , she retired to live with her handler . Dickin Medal . In November 2005 forces serving with NATO ' s International Security Assistance Force were involved in two separate attacks . Sadie and her handler , L / Cpl Karen Yardley , were deployed to search for explosive devices outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul following a suicide attack . Sadie picked up the scent of a second device through a thick concrete wall , giving disposal experts the opportunity to defuse the bomb which was a pressure cooker bomb — a pressure cooker filled with TNT . The bomb had been covered with sandbag s , in order to kill and injure rescue workers following the suicide attack . For her actions , Sadie was awarded the Dickin Medal . Awarded by the People ' s Dispensary for Sick Animals , it is considered to be the animal ' s Victoria Cross . L / Cpl Yardley described the situation ; " As Sadie went towards the compound ' s wall onto the street she picked up a scent . She sat down and stared directly into the wall , which meant there was something right on the other side . I immediately shouted for everyone to get out of the area . " Sadie ' s Dickin Award citation reads as follows : " Sadie gave a positive indication near a concrete blast wall and multinational personnel were moved to a safe distance . At the site of Sadie ' s indication , bomb disposal operators later made safe an explosive device . The bomb was designed to inflict maximum injury . " Sadie became the 61st recipient of the medal , which she received from Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra on 6 February 2007 in a ceremony at the Imperial War Museum in London , England . Fellow military dog Lucky was awarded posthumously at the ceremony for his work in Malaya in 1951 . Marilyn Rydström , of the PDSA , said of Sadie ' s award ; " The Dickin Medal is the highest award any animal can receive for bravery in the line of duty and Sadie is a very worthy recipient " , while a Ministry of Defence spokesman said " Hundreds of our boys owe their lives to Sadie ' s keen nose and we ' re very proud of her . " At a ceremony to commemorate the restoration of the PDSA ' s Ilford Animal Cemetery in December 2007 , Sadie attended with other recent winners of the Dickin Medal as the cemetery is the final resting place of several previous medallists . During the run up to the first Sun Military Awards in 2008 , " The Sun " suggested that had it been awarded the previous year , that it probably would have gone to Sadie and her handler .