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My friend Ken, a retired police officer, sent me this image and the accompanying story but when I saw the picture I did a double-take! Unless I was completely mistaken, I had seen this dog before – in person!Claiming that he is part Boxer, part British Bull Mastiff, tipping the scales at 200 lbs, the perpetrator of this urban myth, (who remains anonymous and yes, unfortunately, this story did turn out to be a hoax) insists that this is the tail of a heroic dog and his Air Force master. (Ironically, this dog is an actual K-9 hero after all – just not in the way this story portrays him).Were it true it would be an incredible story worthy of the Hollywood treatment – the story of an Airman and the heroic dog who loved him. The story goes like this; Brutus, his master and four other soldiers are captured by enemy insurgents- Brutus then escapes, but not before receiving a silent command from his handler – to get help. He comes back, alone, hoping the element of surprise will give him the edge he needs to complete what can only be described as a suicide mission! Springing into action, ala Rin Tin Tin, Brutus is discovered by sentry's but manages to dodge heavy, and concentrated enemy machine-gun fire, to locate and subsequently rescue his human handler/companion – leaving the Army guys to fend for themselves!Tearing out the throats of several enemy guards, while sustaining a painful shoulder wound, Brutus manages to claw his way through solid-oak doors, and with his teeth, is able to untie the ropes that holds his master captive. Throwing the unconscious (he was water-boarded) airman across his back and bleeding profusely himself he starts to make his way back out of the Iraqi torture chamber toward friendly forces. But as images of ticker tape parades and steaks and beer for the rest of his life dance through his pea brain, Brutus changes his mind and decides, after all, to come to the rescue of the Army (just like the Marines always do).Somehow he manages to hot wire an Iraqi truck, and while dragging the unconscious Army guys into the back of the truck he thinks; 'hmm, the fat one might be a tasty substitute for field rations if we are forced into hiding before making it back to friendly lines.'While it is fact that our canine companions have often distinguished themselves in time of war, to my knowledge, no dog has ever been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. There have been only two recipients of our Nation's highest award for Valor in connection with the Iraq war and they were both humans, one a Marine Corporal (posthumously) and one an Army Sergeant. Therefore, it would seem clear that the story of Brutus is no more than a mythical canine hero brought to the web, possibly to perpetuate support for the war in Iraq, author unknown. It's one of those stories that do no harm and it's fun to let your imagination soar, thinking that something like that could actually happen.Halfway through this post I starting digging through some old photos and sure enough I came across one that jogged my memory. It turns out that Brutus, is actually a dog named Spike, a retired, Service Police Dog, who served with distinction while a member of the sdale, Arizona Police Department's K-9 Unit (2001-2007). Spike is a Belgian Malinois breed, not a Bulldog-Mastiff mix, weighing less than 100 lbs, most of it sinewy muscle. But it was a picture of his handler, Di Iullo, (still with the K-9 Unit in sdale) that I had taken myself at a sdale Police K-9 Demonstration that brought back the real story. Now, I have to ask myself, just what are the odds that I actually knew, in real life, the subject of an urban myth making the rounds on the Internet? I feel so blessed!Here is the real story behind Spike, alias Brutus, backed up by our friends at Snopes.com and based on my personal experience. It's the (bogus) story of the only canine to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for Valor in the performance of his heroic duty in Iraq. I am a resident of sdale, Arizona and attended the 12-week sdale Police Department's Citizen Academy in 2005 where, during a guest-officer appearance, I met Spike's handler/companion . According to him, these dogs are trained by and live at home with their officer/handler and his or her family. After a demanding tour of duty, usually between 5 – 9 years they usually find themselves taking it easy, slouched on a couch, watching TV. I was able to get close to Spike and not knowing the Belgian Malinois breed I asked about his bloodline. That's why I remembered this particular dog. He was very relaxed at the time, probably in his waning years as a cop and looking forward to a nap. And that, my friends, is not an urban myth!The K-9 Unit in sdale brings one or two of their K-9 officers to the Citizens Academy class to demonstrate the use of dogs in drug searches, suspect take-downs, crowd control and a hundred other tasks. These are the true heroes, dogs that are not trained to fatally injure a suspect but to bite and hold the subject while their human handlers take them into custody. These are the real heroes who risk their lives every day to " protect and serve. " More From My-Baby-Pet Is your Dog (or Cat) a Money Pit?From Throwaway Dog To Service DogSocial Media to the (Dog) RescueMy-Baby-Pet Recommends Reporting about pit bulls in the media is biased (Fetch: Pets Blog) The Christmas Dog (Fetch: Pets Blog) Serious Dog Skin Issues? (dogbreed) You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. 7 Responses to “K-9 Service Dogâ€Joanna Hoelscher Says: March 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pm I could not find anything on Snopes to verify your story. Can you provide a link? I tried several times to search their site and turned up nothing.Barbara Says: June 16th, 2009 at 4:52 pm Thank you. I'm laughing reading this. My girlfriend sent me that idiotic story about 'Brutus'. She was here with me at home when I opened the email. The first thing I said was, " why is there a picture of a Malinoise on the top of the story? It says it's about a mixed breed " . That started the fight. As I continued to read and started to laugh, she was SO offended. I thought it was pretty funny, the things that the dog was supposed to have done. It was ridiculous to such an extreme that I couldn't believe even the first person it was sent to forwarded it. I've been raised with dogs, trained dogs, and my dad had a K-9 with the local constabulary as he was a police officer here. That dog was a true hero too, and as smart as any dog that ever lived. He too would have laughed his little doggie fanny off at that absurd story. My friend hardly spoke to me for hours. She still insists that it's an absolutely true story and that Snopes are the ones who are lying. " They've been proven wrong many times you know " . No, as far as I know they are pretty darned accurate. LOL Some folks WANT to be deceived. If it makes them feel good, what the heck. But, it's still one DUMB story. Says: July 2nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm Just got the same forward from someone in my family. Oops. Here's the snopes link: http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/brutus.asp Says: July 4th, 2009 at 11:15 pm Additional info regarding Spike, Service Police Dog from sdale, AZ:http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/74836 Rosian Says: September 15th, 2009 at 1:23 pm What a bummer, I was forwarded the story although nothing about hotwiring trucks or heavy fire was mentioned. Just simply that the dog came back to rescue his handler and was awarded metal of honor. I knew something was funny only because to recieve that medal there is a lot of canidates in front of you I cant imagine the president giving medal to an animal before a human service persons families mite take that the wrong way.I have to admit I was taken by the thought of this being true. I suspect that is how the story originated,that a service dog was lost in combat/or police efforts(which unfortunatley has happened many times)and the handler was so grief stricken that an imaginative story was created. No harm no foul, it made a whole bunch of people remember not only our sons/daughters are dying to protect us but so are our beloved animals. Truth is many service dogs have met thier end by sniffing out IEDs and thier names never even hit the paper because they are not human. In my opinion most dogs I've grown up around were far better than most humans so I can imagine the heartache I would have if my dog was lost to a brutal enemy as we face today.A former Marine Says: January 18th, 2010 at 12:09 pm One might have suspected the story to be false simply by reason of the " Medal of Honor " being referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor which it is not. It is not Congressional, it has nothing to do with Congress except that it was authorized by Congress, but not as their medal to award. It is awarded by the President of the United States as simply the " Medal of Honor " . Also, one does not " Win " or " Earn " or " Given " the Medal of Honor, one is " presented " the Medal of Honor. Combat is not a game or contest.A retired CWO4 USN Says: July 4th, 2010 at 9:23 am Thank you, former Marine! You beat me to it. I cringe every time I hear or read " Congressional Medal of Honor " .Really want to stir up a hornets' nest? Contact the " Congressional Medal of Honor Society " and point out the error in their name. I think they have a macro key on their computers: " Hit to refute " .Leave a ReplyName (required)Mail (will not be published) (required)Website[submit Comment] [X] National Veterinary Directory© Copyright My Baby Pet and Leisure Advertising, 2006-2010. All rights reserved.