Meerut to get country’s first war memorial for animals

The country will get its first war memorial in Meerut that will be dedicated to service animals. This place will honour the contributions and heroics of animals who lost their lives on the battlefield.
Reports suggest that the memorial will be built at the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre in Meerut, where the army rears, breeds, and trains dogs, horses, and mules. The preliminary design for the memorial has also been selected. The RVC started war dog training in the late 1950s, which includes German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds, and Labradors that also form the backbone of the army's canine workforce. Not very long ago, the RVC also introduced Cocker Spaniels and Mudhol Hounds on trial basis for explosive detection.
What will make this memorial unique is the fact that it will be the country’s first animal war memorial and will be devoted primarily to service animals, mostly dogs, and also mules and horses. As per the officers in the know-how, this memorial will mark the outstanding contribution of these animals to military service alongside the soldiers.
The name and service numbers of more than 350 handlers, 300 dogs, and a few horses and mules will be inscribed at the memorial on granite tablets. Mansi, a Labrador, who was posthumously awarded ‘Mentioned in dispatches’, which is the army's highest honour that a dog can receive in military service in India, will be topping the list of animals to be remembered for her role in the counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir in 2016. Her handler, Bashir Ahmed War, who was also posthumously awarded Sena Medal for gallantry, will have his tablet inscribed alongside Mansi's.