SOLDIER AND DOG, BOUND IN LIFE AND DEATH.....
London: Liam and Theo were a team, fast friends doing a dangerous job - searching out roadside bombs laid by insurgents in Afghanistan. The British soldier and his irrepressible dog worked and played together for months, and died on the same day. On Thursday, they came home, flown back to Britain in a sombre repatriation ceremony for the soldier, remembered for his empathy with his animals and the companion he loved.
Lance Corporal Liam Tusker, a dog handler with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, was killed in a fire-fight with insurgents in Helmand province on March 1 as he searched for explosives with Theo, a bomb sniffing springer spaniel mix. The dog suffered a fatal seizure hours later at a British army base, likely brought about by stress. Military officials won't go as far as to say Theo died of a broken heart, but that may not be far from the truth. "I think we often underestimate the grieving process in dogs," said Elaine Pendlebury, a senior veterinarian with animal charity PDSA. Some dogs react very severely to their partner's loss." She said it was not uncommon for pets to respond to their owners death by refusing food and becoming sick, and the bond between working dogs and their handlers is especially close. "The bonding that I have seen between soldiers or police and their dogs is fantastic. When you see them working together, it's really one unit."
A military Hercules plane carrying Tasker's body and Theo's ashes touched down on Thursday at an air force base in Southwest England. As the funeral cortege drove slowly away, it was saluted by a long line of military dog handlers, with their dogs at their sides. At the nearby town of Wootten Basset, where people line the streets in a mark of respect each time a dead soldier is repatriated, dozens stood silently - some with dogs at their feet - as Tasker's friends and family laid roses atop the hearse. The Defence Ministry said that Theo's ashes would be presented to Tasker's family later at a private ceremony.
Tasker, 26, from Kirkcaldy in Scotland, spent six years as an army mechanic before joining the military working dog unit in 2007. "I love my job and working together with Theo," Tasker said in a profile of the pair released by the ministry before his death. "He has agreat character and never tires. He can't wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing."
The soldier and the 22 month-old dog had been in Afghanistan for almost six months, uncovering roadside bombs and weapons in a dangerously daily routine. Theo became a bit of a military celebrity last month after the defence ministry released photos and video of him and Tasker to highlight the life-saving work of military dogs. The footage, now deeply poignant, shows Theo - energetic, ears cocked, tail wagging - alongside Tasker searching a compound for explosives.
Tasker's mother, Jane Duffy, said: "I'm not a nurse or a vet, but I would like to believe that Theo died of a broken heart to be with Liam."
P.S. This extremely touching real-life story is a very clear example of "eternal, everlasting and undying love".
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