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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Nia Dalton

Spaniel rejected as sniffer dog successfully detects WW2 live grenade on beach

Heroes come in all shapes, sizes and species - and some have four legs, furry tails and flappy ears.

Springer spaniel Luna was once rejected as a sniffer dog by the emergency services, but proved her worth by detecting a live bomb on a beach.

Luna's clever nose led her to the WW2 grenade buried on Winterton beach in Norfolk on Sunday.

It comes after her police career was shut down when she failed her official tests - and instead found a home with loving owners Steve and Kay Rose.

Steve, 51, took Luna out for her daily walk on the weekend and was shocked when she sniffed out an unexploded mortar round in the dunes.

Luna and Kay in the spot where the unexploded bomb was buried (East Anglia News Service)

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He said: "She held it in her mouth and tossed it around like a tennis ball. I couldn't believe it when I saw what she was playing with."

Steve immediately contacted emergency services and an army bomb disposal team arrived from Colchester.

After identifying it as a World War Two device - which could still contain some explosives - they put up a cordon to keep people away.

The mortar was examined and revealed to be about 8ins long and 2ins wide.

Steve added: "It's likely some of Luna's basic training kicked in. She trained as a sniffer dog with the services but failed the tests."

The mortar shell was identified as a WW2 explosive (East Anglia News Service)

In the First World War, the dunes were used as practice trenches, and in the Second World War, they was a minefield and military camp.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "An army team attended an incident in Winterton at the request of Norfolk Police. The team identified a Mortar High Explosive that had failed to function.

"The item was a British weapon likely to be from the WW2 era and was safely destroyed via a controlled explosion."

Luna played with the grenade like a tennis ball (East Anglia News Service)

Another brave dog helping a bomb disposal squad is two-year-old Jack Russell terrier Patron.

He is the star landmine finder and mascot of the Chernihiv bomb disposal squad in Ukraine.

The clever pup is being used to clean up Russian explosive devices in exchange for cheese.

The State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine said that Patron "continues to help pyrotechnicians in the Chernihiv region to clean the land of Russian 'gifts'."

The SES added that people should "be aware, look under your feet, and do not upset Patron".

Do you have a dog story to tell? Contact nia.dalton@reachplc.com.

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