A medal awarded to possibly the earliest version of today's rescue dogs was sold at auction today for the U.S. equivalent of $36,000 - more than $15,000 over estimate.
The Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animals and known as "the animals' VC, was awarded to a mongrel dog named Rip who was credited with finding more than 100 people trapped in bombed out buildings during World War II.
Rip had been found abandoned in an air raid shelter and was adopted by E. King, an Air Raid Precaution Warden. He went to work with no formal rescue training and proved quite effective at the job.
Maria Dickin, who established the medal program, decorated Rip in 1945. Among the 62 animals awarded the Dickin Medal are dogs, pigeons, horses and a cat.
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