Defence Online

British Army vets are preparing to parade through their hometown of Melton Mowbray to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC).It will be the first time in four years that the whole base has paraded through the town, and on Friday they will be joined by their service animals.On 27th November 1918, the Army Veterinary Corps gained the prefix “Royal”, in honour of the work they’d done during the first world war.They train up to 170 dogs every year, which go onto serve in the military and police force, ando ‘produce’ around 60 horses a year, which include the ones that are part of the Household Cavalry and the King’s Troop. During the First World War, millions of horses were used across war zones, with hundreds of thousands losing their lives.In its first 82 years of service, they were organised entirely on a regimental basis. Veterinary surgeons were directly recruited into cavalry regiments and wore the uniform of the regiments they joined.Lieutenant Henry Mosey is a Veterinary Officer that has been qualified for a year and is beginning a career in military animal medicine.Melton Mowbray has been involved with military animals since 1906 when it was a remount farm – where it sourced horses for the army and issued them to frontline units. The base has been responsible for dogs since 1945 and they’re now trained for the military and the police force.Lance Corporal Nicola Parfrement, a dog handler, says training the dogs at a young age and teaching them obedience and agility is fundamental for their future.Lacey is under intense training to be able to detect explosives on the ground.The dogs have a range of specialisms, for example, a Dutch Shepherd, Lola, is trained in protection. Whereas Lacey, a black Labrador, is learning to become an arms explosive search dog – just like her predecessors who were being taught the same specialism more than 50 years ago.