Trossachs rescue hero and his search dog awarded international honour

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Callander rescue worker and his trusty dog have been honoured with an international award for their dedicated work.Rod Stoddart MBE, from Trossachs Search and Rescue Team, and his search dog Clova have won the first Association of Professional Working Dogs Award.The award recognises the work TSAR has done over the last couple of years for the community and for wider dog searches throughout the country.The pair were chosen following consideration of 3500 dog handler/dog teams from across the world.TSAR spokesman Brian Devlin said: “Rod has been involved in Search and Rescue for more than 40 years, initially with RAF mountain rescue and civilian mountain rescue, for which he was awarded the MBE, and in the past two years with Trossachs Search and Rescue as a dog handler and training officer.“This award represents services to both search and rescue and working with the wider community, both of which Rod has dedicated most of his working life to.“Rod and Clova deploy on a regular basis to assist in search and rescue and most recently to a major gas explosion which ripped through a housing estate in Ayr.“They were part of a team of 10 people and four dogs from Trossachs Search and Rescue that were called out by Scottish Fire and Rescue to search the rubble for survivors.“As well as deploying with Clova for searches, Rod continues to train on a regular basis alongside his role as an external assessor to other SAR teams within the UK.”Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.Their contribution doesn’t stop there, however.Not only do the pair respond in immediate emergency situations, they also provide much needed support to individuals.“Search dog Clova is also a qualified therapy dog,” said Brian, “and has