A Labrador Retriever, who served as a detection dog with Mumbai Police and had sniffed out four live bombs and 17 hand grenades during the 26/11 terror attacks, died today after prolonged illness.
Ten-year-old ‘Prince’, who ‘retired’ on August 31 this year after serving in Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) for several years, died this afternoon while undergoing treatment at Sakarbai Hospital for Animals in central Mumbai’s Parel area, police said.
The iconic canine was given a gun salute and subsequently cremated.
The black Labrador had been suffering from heart and kidney ailments since the past few weeks, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said.
“Prince had saved several lives by sniffing out four unexploded bombs and 17 hand grenades at iconic Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi hotel, Mumbai CST railway station and Chabad house, all targeted during the 2008 terror attacks,” he said.
The explosives were later defused.
Prince was one of the four sniffer dogs that were put into service during the November 26, 2008 terror strikes, said Kishore Navar, a BDDS Constable who handled the explosive detection four-leg animal.
The dog had also helped in gathering clinching evidence from the sites of the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings, police said.
