Who are Sophie and Vida? The army dogs, that PM Modi mentioned in his ‘Maan ki Baat’ address

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his ‘Mann ki Baat’ address on Sunday hailed the Indian Army dogs. He said that they play an important role in disaster management and rescue missions.

He highlighted the bravery of India’s canine soldiers, mentioning Sophie, a Cocker Spaniel, and Vida, a Labrador

He referred to the dogs unit as ‘The Silent Warriors’ and emphasised on the significance of the canines in Disaster management and rescue operations.

Sophie and Vida are both involved in counter-infiltration and counter-terrorism operations, and were awarded with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Commendations on the 74th Independence Day.

It is said that Vida was key in the detection of five mines and a grenade and Sophie, an explosive detection dog saved lives by sniffing out the accelerant used to initiate makeshift bombs.

Modi also mentioned Balram, a dog who detected a large amount of explosives on the Amarnath Yatra route in 2006, Bhawana, who detected an IED but was killed along with her handler when it was triggered while being defused in 2002 and CRPF’s sniffer dog ‘Cracker’.