A POLICE dog handler ran the length of the county in memory of his heroic former four-legged colleague.
Andy Crouch took to the treadmill for 12 hours to run 82 kilometres – equivalent to two marathons, 1,640 lengths of an Olympic swimming pool or 911 football pitches.
The challenge marked the first anniversary since his police dog Jake posthumously received the world’s second highest award for any animal from the PDSA – the animal equivalent of the OBE.
During his ten year career Jake sniffed out more than £5million in cash, firearms and drugs.
He retired in 2014 but sadly passed away aged 13 in March last year, after settling into retirement at Andy’s home.
Andy, who is based in Rugby, now wants to highlight Jake’s achievements and raise awareness of the contribution made by working animals. He is also raising funds for the PDSA which helps pay for veterinary treatment.
Andy, who trained for months ahead of the challenge, said: “I have always been an animal lover and I wanted to do something to celebrate Jake because he deserved it.
“The PDSA are an amazing charity which does some fantastic work and it is apparent people worldwide recognise them and they work they do.
“I started at 5am and finished at around 4pm – and I was absolutely done in.
“I don’t know how much I raised as the donations go straight to the PDSA, but I am hoping for over £1,000 – although the highlighting of the PDSA and working animals was equally my intention.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/PoliceDogJake to donate.
