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Taz the Collie and Gayle Wilde aged 39 from Lanarkshire announced by the Kennel Club today as finalists for the prestigious Crufts dog hero competition, Friends for Life 2018, at the official launch of Crufts 2018.

Taz is the senior search dog for Trossachs Search & Rescue and was chosen as the winner of the Extraordinary Life of a Working Dog category. Taz and his handler Gayle have been with the team for almost nine years and over that time they have been deployed to numerous searches together.

In November 2013, the team were deployed to the Clutha pub in Glasgow following the incident which saw a police helicopter crash land onto the pub roof. Taz and Gayle along with two other search teams were tasked with searching the building for casualties. Working in cramped, dark and dangerous conditions Taz and Gayle located every victim and advised the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service of their positions in order to facilitate extraction.

Taz has been deployed to several other notable searches including for murder victim Suzanne Pilley in Arrochar in 2010 and missing fisherman Paul Alliston in the Outer Hebrides in 2016, as well as many other various missing persons, house collapses, and an exploded electrical sub-station at Dunipace in 2013. Taz and Gayle are on call 365 days a year, and are volunteers receiving no pay for the work they do, nor any government funding. Every day they go above and beyond really demonstrating the invaluable work manÕs best friend can do.
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Crufts is the world's greatest dog show and this year will see more than 21,000 healthy, happy dogs competing for the coveted 'Best in Show' title as well as taking part in the many other competitions that take place at the show, from Agility and Flyball to the hero dog competition Eukanuba Friends for Life and Scruffts Family Crossbreed of the Year. Crufts 2018 runs from the 8th to the 11th March at the NEC, Birmingham.

Crufts is the perfect opportunity for dog lovers meet around 200 breeds of dog, find out how to go about getting a dog, and to find out about activities and competitions they can get involved in with their own dog.

For further images, please go to: www.Flick.media/crufts_2018/

For more information please contact the Press Office via: T: 020 7518 1008 / 1020
E: press.office@thekennelclub.org.uk

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Image File Data

1.7 MB; 27th February, 2018; 2805 x 3183 pixels (W x H)

Image Keywords

Canine Hero Awards  Collie  Crufts 2018  Dog  Dog Show  Friends for Life  Gayle Wilde  Kennel Club  Lanarkshire¤  Launch  Pet  Taz