Heroic Royal Army Force sniffer dog honoured for saving thousands of lives

London: A heroic British military dog who is said to have saved a thousand lives by sniffing out hidden explosives in warzones around the world has been honorned with a memorial.

Buster, an arms and explosive search dog with the Royal Air Force, completed five tours of duty in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq and saved countless lives by searching out improvised explosive devices.

The springer spaniel retired in 2012 and died at his handler's home at the age of 13 in Lincolnshire in 2015. He is credited with saving over a thousand lives by detecting bombs and explosives in war-torn areas around the world.

The memorial was unveiled in the garden at RAF Waddington during a short service.

Buster's handler, Flight Sergeant Will Barrow, said: "He undoubtedly saved lots of lives and the upshot of that is that there are also a lot of people that have still got their loved ones around.

"This is not about saying good bye to Buster with a memorial, it's more like saying hello forever," the BBC quoted Mr Barrow as saying.