She stands barely two feet off the ground, but for many soldiers, including some Canadians, Sgt. Rey provided invaluable security.
She鈥檚 also a Black Lab.
On Monday, Sgt. Rey and her owner, Lt.-Col. Kate Van Auken of the United States Armed Forces, were in Ottawa to take part in Remembrance Day ceremonies.
A decorated veteran, Rey completed a tour of Iraq and several in Afghanistan before retiring this past August. It was her job to sniff out deadly IEDs -- Improvised Explosive Devices -- the type of weapon that killed the majority of Canadians in Afghanistan. In Kandahar and Helmand province, Rey worked with the U.S. Marines as well as Canadian soldiers, alerting them to potential danger.
Her rank isn鈥檛 a gimmick: Rey is a real sergeant, and actually outranked her handlers.
鈥淪he has to have a senior rank to the handler so if the handler abuses the dog in anyway, you know it鈥檚 a chargeable offence,鈥� Van Auken told CTV鈥檚 Mercedes Stephenson at the War Memorial in Ottawa on Monday. 鈥淚t protects the asset. There is tons of money 鈥� and hours and years spent training these dogs for what they do and you can鈥檛 have any problems with that.鈥�
Van Auken said that Rey, who on Monday wore a harness that held several of her medals, was well bred for her military role.
鈥淟abs have an incredible sense of smell. They (soldiers) have equipment that is at checkpoints and out in the field 鈥� but the dog just has this incredible ability, and plus they have the loyalty and devotion and they want to protect,鈥� Van Auken said. 鈥淪o I think that this combined with her sense of smell is what makes a dog team so much better than some device.鈥�
Rey didn鈥檛 retire from the military unscathed. According to Van Auken, Rey has developed a form of canine Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a little stressed out, she has anxiety and doesn鈥檛 like to ride in the car too much when it slows down,鈥� Van Auken said. 鈥淪he was not travelling well anymore and they decided she was good for adoption at this point.鈥�
Between 2002 and 2012, 158 Canadian military personnel were killed in Afghanistan, according to icasualties.org, a website that tracks military deaths. Of those 158 deaths, 93 were caused by IEDs, according to the site.
Van Auken, who spent time with many Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, said she was impressed with the way Canada honours the men and women who have fought for their country.
鈥淐anada really rolls it out, they take it seriously, it鈥檚 impressive,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause it gets lost, it gets lost though time.鈥�
