Search and rescue dog retires after pawsome career

Graham Currie will still take Jarvis to work despite the dog's retirement

A service dog who helped save lives across Europe for more than a decade is retiring.

Jarvis, a search and rescue dog at Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS), will stand down from his role at the age of 11.

Throughout his career, the cocker spaniel has been deployed to serious rescue incidents across the country, notably in London and Jersey.

His hander, Graham Currie, said the dog was his "best pal" and they had had complete faith in each other over the years.

"I am with him 365 days a year," Mr Currie explained.

"The number of places I've been to and people I've met has been all because of him.

"He's got to have trust and faith in me, and I have that in him."

Early in his career, Jarvis was the top dog at the National Resilience Urban Search and Rescue team as well as for the UK International Search and Rescue Team.

In January 2023, he was deployed to Jersey to help search for 12 missing people following an explosion at a block of flats.

In 2020, he was sent to the Bow crane collapse in east London and was the only dog small enough to navigate the wreckage.

He has similarly worked and trained in places including Scotland, Sicily, Germany and Paris and has always been known for his boundless energy, the fire service said.

While his days of deployment are behind him, Mr Currie said Jarvis will still be very much a part of ECFRS.

"When he retires, he will still come out with me, but he won't be deployed on jobs," he said.

"He'll stay in the van and continue training. Otherwise, left at home he would die of a broken heart."

The ECFRS said his service period was the equivalent of 77 human years.