Appling War Hero: Meet Tilda the Bomb Sniffing Dog
Last week I saw a post on my Facebook feed about a dog celebrating it’s 14th birthday. Being a dog lover of course I had to click on it! Turns out this was no ordinary dog! Tilda is a retired Richmond County Sheriff’s bomb sniffing dog and a war hero veteran who served two deployments in Afghanistan with the Marines! Tilda is a true hero and is now enjoying her retirement and living her her best life with the Cullinan family in Appling!
I got a chance to speak with Patrick Cullinan about his extraordinary dog and her amazing acts of service this week as the family returned from a trip to the beach. You can tell there’s a lot of well deserved pride in their hero dog and that Tilda is getting a lot of special attention in her golden years! Here’s what I learned about this amazing pooch!
Tilda Is A War Veteran
The US Department of Defense trains thousands of dogs for service with our troops. As Patrick pointed out, service dogs are akin to professional sports players. Many can be trained but only a few really have that special something to excel at their job. And Tilda excelled! Tilda excelled A LOT! Tilda’s job in Afghanistan was to walk ahead of the convoys and sniff for explosives. Who knows how many lives she saved during her service!
Tilda Served Richmond County Too
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When her second deployment was over with the Marines the DOD then sent Tilda and other specialty trained dogs to local law enforcement agencies all across the country so that they could continue their work stateside. Tilda was sent to Richmond County Sheriff’s Office around 2012 and eventually paired up with Patrick Cullinan around 2014 as a crucial part of the bomb squad. Patrick later retired but continued to work with Tilda as a reserve until she was ready to retire herself in 2016.
Retired and Loving Life
Since retirement Tilda has become a mother figure of sorts to the Cullinan’s two corgis and enjoys spending time with her family and doggie friends. She now gets to enjoy her golden years surrounded by her people and just last week celebrated her 14th birthday on the beach with her family and friends! So if you happen to run into Tilda around town, make sure you wish her a happy birthday and thank her for her many years of service to our nation and to our community! She’s a real hometown hero!