by Ben Holt
In 2010 the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) magazine named her Most Heroic Pet. Ann Marie Malave, regional activity coordinator and community liaison for the centre, explained that the little horses acted as a ‘bridge’.
‘They connect to our residents with maybe a memory, a feeling, something that they’ve done in their lives. It’s just such an experience. There are no words to describe it.’
Pets as therapy
In the UK, the charity Pets as Therapy (PAT) trains up therapy animals, and takes them to visit patients in hospitals and care homes around the country. Registered volunteers accompany the animals on their visits, which aim to comfort and provide companionship to people of all ages. There are around 4,500 PAT dogs and 108 PAT cats in the UK, visiting more than 130,000 people every week.
RICHARD
An estate agent from Missouri found an alternative therapy to help her cope with her illness…
Debby Rose, mother of six, suffered from a severe type of anxiety disorder which caused her to have high blood pressure, a racing heartbeat and extreme panic attacks. But rather than seeking to be put on medication, she managed her symptoms through a different type of therapy, delivered by her monkey, Richard.
Debby was the founder of Wild Things Exotic Animal Orphanage, home to 20 monkeys all under her care – and now one was caring for her. With the monkey by her side, Debby found she was practically free from her symptoms: ‘He’s an emotional support,’ she explained. ‘He calms me down and lowers my blood pressure, from his soothing and his eye contact.’
Debby’s doctor Larry Halverson approved of the role Richard played in her life, and believed it was a much healthier way of dealing with her problems than resorting to medication. However, not all of Debby’s neighbours were as supportive. Richard followed her wherever she went, and people said they felt uncomfortable when he sat with her through hair and nail appointments. Some even filed complaints and, as a result, Richard was no longer allowed to accompany her into restaurants and supermarkets.
Debby later filed a discrimination case against the Springfield-Greene County Health Department and the local businesses that had banned Richard from entering. The case was rejected on the grounds that Richard did not qualify as a service animal. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal as ‘any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability’. Other species of animals, whether trained or untrained, are not considered service animals according to this definition. In many other countries around the world, including the UK, assistance dogs are allowed to accompany their owners into places such as restaurants, where they would not usually be permitted, but this does not apply to other animals.
MEET THE WORKFORCE
Creatures great and small, from husky dogs to elephants and ponies to camels, have been tamed and trained by humans to do a variety of tasks for thousands of years, right back to when they first carried heavy loads, used their muscle to help with farming, and hauled primitive forms of transport. Canaries have been used to warn miners of dangerous gases, cats have kept rodent populations under control on ships and in factories, and dogs have been used by hunters to locate and retrieve fallen prey. Today, mechanisation and modern transport have replaced many working animals, but they still play their part in a large number of roles...
• SNIFFER DOGS have been used to track down contraband materials such as pirated DVDs, particularly in Asia where piracy is a huge problem.
• DOGS are not the only animals used to sniff out drugs – pigs have proved to have an aptitude for it, too, and of course they are commonly used to locate truffles.
• DOLPHINS AND RATS have both been used to detect mines – rats can sniff out landmines, and are lighter and less likely to accidently set them off than dogs, while dolphins can attach markers to underwater mines.
• IN EASTERN COUNTRIES, such as China and Japan, cormorants have traditionally been used by fisherman to catch fish. The cormorant can eat any smaller fish it catches, but a tie around the base of its throat prevents it from swallowing the larger ones, which are retrieved by the fisherman.
Did you know…
… that a calico cat named Tama held the title of Station Master at Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan?
‘The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others.’
Saint John Chrysostom
WAR HEROES
Throughout history, animals have accompanied man onto the battlefield. Hannibal famously used elephants in his military campaign against the Romans, and Alexander the Great rode his great stallion Bucephalus across Europe and into Asia, conquering people after people as he went. Horses have long served on the front line in the cavalry, while camels, elephants, donkeys and mules have all played their part in carrying heavy supplies and ammunition through difficult terrain, and many cats have served as resident rat-catchers aboard navy vessels. World Wars One and Two saw animals of many species enlisted to help with the war effort on both sides in increasingly inventive ways – dogs were parachuted into enemy territory as spies, messenger pigeons carried vital intelligence and the very first search and rescue dogs worked in the chaos of the London Blitz. In modern times dogs have proved indispensable in sniffing out terrorists’ explosive devices, while dolphins have been trained to detect underwater mines. But these useful practical purposes aside, perhaps the most important role animals have played in any war is boosting the morale of soldiers, as lucky mascots, as a source of comfort and reminder of home, and as a reason to keep on living.
VOYTEK
When the 22nd Polish Artillery Transport Company picked up an orphaned bear cub en route to the battlefield, they had no idea of the legendary status their new recruit would one day attain…
During World War Two, Poland was second only to the Soviet Union in loss of life and property per capita. In 1939 it was invaded by both Germany and the USSR, and endured a terrifying war on two fronts, its people terrorised by both the Nazis and the NKVD (the forerunner to the KGB). Any Poles who could, fled, leaving behind their homes and everything they had known and cherished. At the seaport of Pahlevi in Persia a group of them gathered and volunteered for the British forces. They were sent to Palestine to be assigned and were later to become the 22nd Polish Artillery Transport Company.
As the Polish soldiers travelled through northern Persia towards Palestine, one day they came across a poor, starving boy clutching a large bag. When the bag began to wriggle it was opened by Lance Corporal Peter Prendys to reveal a tiny snout and two sparkling eyes. Much to the soldiers’ surprise it was an orphaned Syrian bear cub. Prendys picked up the bundle of fur and held it aloft, then cradled it in his arms and fed it bottled milk until it fell asleep. The soldiers, who were delighted with their find, paid the boy for handing the cub over and named him Voytek, meaning ‘little one’.
From then on and throughout the war, the bear became an important focus for the affection of the uprooted, homesick Poles. Prendys cared for the cub, feeding him condensed milk and giving him an old washing-up bowl to sleep in. He was an intelligent and inquisitive creature, shy at first, but soon venturing out of his master’s tent on his own to explore. The soldiers were worried that when they got to Palestine the commanding officer would not allow them to keep him, but by the time they arrived Voytek’s reputation had preceded him, and the by-now-famous bear was given a warm welcome.
Voytek became an integral part of the soldiers’ lives: he rode in the front of their jeeps, shared their food, slept in their tents and certainly got up to his fair share of mischief. In 1942, while the company was stationed alongside the Women’s Signal Corps in Quisal Rabat, Iraq, he came across the ladies’ undergarments hanging out to dry. There ensued a comical scene as the bear trailed the underwear through the camp, much to the embarrassment o
f the female officers. When reprimanded later, he seemed so miserable that eventually the girls relented and fed him sweets to cheer him up.
In the summer he learnt how to work the shower, but used it so much the hut had to be locked to prevent him exhausting the water supply. One day he was thrilled to find the door left ajar – inside he discovered a cowering Arab spy who had sneaked into the camp to do a recce for a raiding party that intended to steal all the company’s weapons and ammunition. As a result, the Arab confessed all and the raiding party were rounded up. Voytek was given two bottles of beer and allowed to splash around in the bath hut all morning as a reward.
Voytek supplied many moments of light relief for the soldiers, but in time he was to see his fair share of heavy action in the bitter war that raged across the continent.
In 1944, the company sailed aboard the Batory to Italy, where they would be responsible for supplying all the British and Polish front-line troops with ammunition, artillery shells and food during the big push to take the hill of Monte Cassino, one of the chief obstacles in the allies’ quest to reclaim Rome after the fall of Mussolini. They would be thrust into the eye of the storm, constantly exposed to danger from sniper and aerial attack and surrounded by explosions – and Prendys feared for Voytek. He wanted to keep the bear away from the front line, but he was so unhappy at being left behind at camp that they let him ride in the truck with them as they made deliveries of supplies. The sight of his huge head hanging out of the truck window soon became familiar among the military stationed in the area. Initially, the poor gentle animal was terrified by the noises of battle, but this brave bear soon took it all in his stride, remaining alongside his comrades as they worked in the precarious conditions.
One day the men were unloading 25-pound artillery shells and gingerly passing them to each other when Voytek solemnly put out his paws and took one of the shells, cradling it in his furry arms. The shell was live, but Prendys reassured the others that Voytek wouldn’t drop it. From then on the bear pitched in and helped the men to unload the heavy supplies. Within a week, they had delivered 17,320 tons of ammunition, 1,200 tons of fuel and 1,116 tons of food to the front line. The company’s regimental badge was later redesigned to show the iconic image of an upright bear lifting a heavy artillery shell, in honour of Voytek.
After the war had ended, in September 1945, the company sailed for Glasgow. On arrival Voytek marched with the other soldiers – to the delight of the cheering crowds on the streets of Glasgow. But sadly, he couldn’t stay with the army now the war was over and, when Prendys was demobbed in 1947, it was decided Voytek should live out his days at Edinburgh Zoo. The director of the zoo later said that when he watched the bear enter his cage for the first time: ‘I never felt so sorry to see an animal who had enjoyed so much freedom, confined to a cage.’ He died in 1963, aged 22.
The moving story of Voytek is told in Soldier Bear by W. A. Lasocki and Geoffrey Morgan, and the bear’s fame endures to this day: he has featured in many exhibitions and there are plaques commemorating him in Edinburgh Zoo, the Imperial War Museum, the Canada War Museum in Ottawa, and a sculpture of him by David Harding sits in the Sikorski Museum in London.
JACOB
In the dead of winter in nineteenth-century Canada, a local farmyard goose surprised the Coldstream Guards with his fearlessness and sense of duty…
In 1838, the British were trying to suppress French Canadian rebels in Quebec and the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards was sent to help. One evening when Guardsman John Kemp was on sentry duty a large goose walked past and began feeding nearby. As he watched the goose, Kemp noticed it become suddenly tense and freeze. It soon became clear why – a stealthy fox appeared, its predatory gaze fixed on the plump bird. In a state of panic, the goose dashed to hide between Kemp’s legs. The guard realised he couldn’t shoot the fox, as the noise would alarm the sleeping battalion – they would think the rebels were attacking. Instead, as the fox made a beeline for its prey he swiftly stabbed it with his bayonet. He had saved the goose’s life and, in gratitude, it affectionately rubbed its head against his legs.
The goose had come from a neighbouring farm and returned there later that night, but was soon back at the post and regularly attended sentry duty with the guardsmen. They christened him Jacob, and he became a familiar sight and source of company for whoever was on sentry duty.
On one freezing-cold November night, Jacob was to return the favour to the very guardsman who had saved his life. He began to behave unusually: he did not return to the farm as was his habit and instead stayed on duty with the guard. He appeared unsettled, and kept craning his neck to look over towards the farm. All of a sudden, rebels armed with knives charged out of the darkness and headed straight for the guardsman. The heavy snow on the ground had muffled the sound of their approach, allowing them to sneak up on the guard. Jacob instantly rushed towards them, wings flapping, squawking loudly. The diversion this created allowed the guard enough time to fire a shot, rousing the other members of the battalion, and together they fought off the rebels.
Hearing of Jacob’s heroic deed, the commanding officer bought the goose from the farmer and awarded him a gorget, a golden collar which he proudly wore as he waddled around the barracks. On returning to England in 1842, the Coldstream Guards took their mascot with them, where he became the centre of attention of the crowds that came to see the famous sentry goose on duty outside the barracks. He is also said to have impressed the Duke of Wellington, who admired the fine bird’s devotion to duty. Jacob lived until 1846, and when he died his body was preserved. He can be seen on display at the Guards Museum on Birdcage Walk, London, still wearing his famous golden collar.
MURPHY
A devoted donkey stuck by his master through thick and thin on the battlefields at Gallipoli during World War One, saving the lives of hundreds of wounded soldiers…
The Battle of Gallipoli was one of the greatest disasters of World War One for the Allied forces, when they attempted to knock Turkey out of the war in order to retain control of the Suez Canal and thus a sea passage to Russia. But the Turks turned out to be a greater adversary than predicted, and it became a bitter, entrenched battle that raged from April 1915 until January 1916, when the Allies were forced to admit defeat and withdraw, at the cost of more than 200,000 lives on each side.
During this battle, donkeys were shipped in to carry water supplies and ammunition to the front line, their sure-footedness being indispensible on the rocky, difficult terrain. It’s not known exactly where the donkey dubbed variously Abdul, Duffy and Murphy came from, but what is certain is that he formed a deep bond of friendship with John Simpson of the 3rd Field Ambulance of the Australian Army Medical Corps. This Englishman had travelled to Australia at the age of 17 in 1907, and was sent to Egypt, where Australian and New Zealand (or Anzac) troops were being held in anticipation of a campaign against Turkey. And so, in 1915 he found himself boarding a ship bound for Gallipoli.
On the front line lay Shrapnel Gully, a deep, winding ravine into which the men were packed tightly in hot, dusty conditions and constantly bombarded. It seemed impossible to get any injured men out of there and to the field ambulance, as it would involve moving slowly and being exposed to incoming enemy fire. So they stayed put, until Simpson took it upon himself to tie a red cross to Murphy’s brow and lead him down the gully to retrieve them. There had already been large casualties among stretcher-bearers and huge loss of medical equipment, but this didn’t dissuade Simpson from his aim. He would tend to injured soldiers in the gully as best he could, and any with the strength to hold on he would lift onto Murphy’s back so the donkey could carry them to the safety of the ambulance stations. A record was not kept of how many times they did this, but they surely saved hundreds of lives.
They continued in this way for the next 25 days, and Murphy never faltered in his trust and devotion to his master. Murphy would always keep a slow, measured pace, as if he knew that any sudden movements might cause f
urther pain to his injured charges. The soldiers also believed Murphy could predict incoming shells, his twitching ears providing a warning. It seemed Simpson and Murphy had somehow been given a free pass; for all the many journeys they made up and down, they escaped uninjured. The field hospital commander in charge of Simpson had noted his work, which he carried out of his own initiative, and acknowledged the important boost it gave to the troops’ morale.
Then, on 19 May 1915 the Turks launched a heavy counter-offensive, with around 3,000 lives lost on both sides. An armistice was called to give each side time to clear the dead, and Simpson and Murphy would have to work extra hard that day. On leaving camp without having breakfast, Simpson is reported to have said: ‘Never mind, get me a good dinner when I come back.’
He took an extra donkey along that day, tied behind Murphy, and as they set off with two injured soldiers they came under fire. Accounts differ on what happened next – some say that both donkeys were killed, others that the injured soldiers were killed and the donkeys delivered the bodies back to base, while others credit Murphy with doggedly continuing on with his wounded charge and saving that soldier’s life. But they all agree on one fact: that Simpson was tragically shot and killed. It is not known what happened to Murphy after this sad event, although there is some evidence that he may have later been evacuated with the 6th Indian Mountain Battery.
General Monash highly commended the courageous efforts of Private Simpson and Murphy, and in Australia a bronze statuette of a man leading a donkey with a wounded soldier on its back stands mounted on a marble plinth in the Gallipoli Galleries of Canberra’s War Memorial, commemorating the actions of the brave pair.
