A very special dog has helped bring closure to families across the city for over a decade.
Barra – who will be 14 next year – has operated as a victim recovery dog on the River Clyde in Glasgow since he was a young springer spaniel, having begun training as a pup.
Before retiring last year, the wee hero – who is also Scotland’s only underwater sniffer dog - has managed to retrieve bodies in the water, bringing bittersweet closure to Glasgow families with missing loved ones.
Having got the pup at just three months old, Iain Marshall, Barra’s owner and trainer said: “I’m so proud of Barra and the amazing work he’s been able to do.
“We have such a tight bond between us and when I’ve not got him with me, I miss him and feel sort of lost.
“It’s so great working with him over these years because we can just read each other’s minds.
“We work as such a great team.”
When working on the rescue boat, the pair were always only looking for people who were no longer alive, Iain, 57, explained.
He added: “We always go looking for people who have been missing long-term.
“Usually how it works is family members contact us and we go out on the boat and retrieve the bodies.”
Throughout the years of hard-work and dedication in Glasgow and Scotland, the team of man and mutt have also worked on several large national cases.
Understandably, Iain of course did not want to go into detail about his previous cases, but he did reveal that himself and barra were involved in high-profile searches in Wales and Yorkshire.
To commemorate his unforgettable contribution to victim recovery, it has recently been revealed that a motion has been put forward to induct Barra into the Animal Heroes Hall Of Fame in The Scottish Parliament.
The motion was put forward by MSP Paul Sweeney and has been supports by a range of MSPs including Pam Duncan-Glancy, Annie Wells and Roz McCall.
To find out more, or to sign the motion, click HERE
Barra lives in Luss with Iain and the rest of his human family.
To find out more about the work Barra and other dogs in similar roles do, click HERE
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