THE ultimate sacrifice paid by animals in war will be commemorated this Anzac Day in Ballarat.
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From the noble bomb-sniffing dogs still serving in the Middle East to the message pigeons of Papua-New Guinea, animal advocate Marg McPhee said they deserved their place on the day.
“They’ve had amazing war service, since war began really,” she said.
Ms McPhee is the local volunteer for the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation.
She said the group was raising funds throughout Australia for towns to show their gratitude to animal veterans.
“The pigeons in PNG, for example, in World War II, did extraordinary things,” she said. “They saved lives by passing messages, that sort of thing.”
Ms McPhee said the fact that only one Australian horse returned from World War I underlined the sacrifices made.
This Anzac Day, five German shepherds will take part in the Ballarat march to mark the service of dogs such as Sarbi, a bomb detection dog lost in Afghanistan for 18 months.
The Ballarat East Homing Club will also provide pigeons.