Retired Sussex Police dog saves man’s life while on his birthday walk

Bear received his award from the Thin Blue Paw Foundation for locating a missing man while on a walk (Image: Thin Blue Paw Foundation)

Bear was out walking with his owners Julia and her husband Ian whom are both retired police officers – to celebrate his 12th birthday, when he found a missing vulnerable man who had fallen over in some undergrowth.

Police had already been informed about the missing man and were already looking for him, luckily bear was out walking with his owner despite only two months ago having major surgery to remove two tumors.

Bear had already been unwell last summer in which he needed an £8,500 specialist operation to repair two herniated discs in his spine caused by his years of strenuous police work. The surgery, was partly funded by the Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a charity which supports working and retired police dogs across the UK.

Bear served as a police dog with Sussex Police until he retired in 2020. He was adopted by Julia Pope, who is from Sussex.

The German Shepherd and Julia were presented with the Thin Blue Paw Foundation’s Lifesaver Award at a ceremony at Sussex Police HQ, in Lewes, on Monday December 23.

Julia said: “The award was amazing and completely unexpected; to say it was a surprise would be an understatement!”