A former bomb disposal expert who rescued a dog in Syria is heading for Crufts having been nominated as a finalist.
Sean Laidlaw, from Essex, once of the Royal Engineers, and his pooch – known as Barrie – will compete in the ‘Friends for Life’ category at the showpiece event in March.
Thirty-one-year-old Sean spent 10 years in Afghanistan but left the Army to work in bomb disposal. After taking a contract in war-torn Syria, he found a sole surviving puppy among four dead siblings when a school was destroyed in 2018.
"Everyone clubbed together to look after her, making sure she had food and somewhere to sleep, she kept weeing in the boss's office, but it was such a welcome distraction,” said Sean
"To have a companion you can train and play with, it kept my mind away from all the things I was seeing and doing out there.
"She'd do everything with me - sit in the passenger seat of my car, eat with me. I even got a bulletproof vest made for her."
