This morning, during a regular shift of duty for the anti-explosive control on vehicles entering the Shama base, headquarters of the UNIFIL West Sector Command, currently based on the "Folgore" paratrooper brigade base, he died Jimmy - said Gamain - one of the dogs of the canine group of the Italian Contingent deployed in Lebanon.
The death of Jimmy, an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd, would be attributable to an illness. Jimmy, who was close to "retirement", has carried out his service for over 10 years, framed at the Canine Group of the Military Veterinary Center of Grosseto and had already been employed, six times, in missions abroad, in Afghanistan, in Kosovo and Lebanon. The attempts to revive him were useless, first by his driver, a corporal chief of the Army, and then by the veterinary officer of the contingent, who promptly intervened on the spot.
The dogs used in the canine nuclei for the research of explosives are selected from puppies, through an evaluation of their abilities and their character nature. Entrust yourself to a military driver, with whom they will share their entire "career" (but, often, also their pension, since more and more frequently drivers ask for the custody of these dogs at the end of their service), they carry out, together with their own “Fellow soldier”, a one-year training and training course. During the course, the animal, in addition to establishing a very special relationship with its driver, through the game and the associations related to it learns to search for, identify and report the presence of explosive substances.
Over the years, the use of canine units within national military contingents has become essential to counter the danger of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one of the most subtle threats for our military operating in operating theaters around the world. For this reason, the disappearance of one of these "four-legged soldiers" always causes consternation for their precious and irreplaceable work, aimed at guaranteeing the safety and safety of their "human comrades".
