Dyfed-Powys Police dog wins award for mum and baby rescue

A police dog who found a missing mother and baby on his first shift has been honoured with a national award.

Dyfed-Powys Police dog Max discovered the pair on the edge of a ravine in a remote part of Powys in August.

Now, the German shepherd cross has been honoured for the rescue at the Daily Mirror Animal Hero Awards.

Handler PC Peter Lloyd said: "You'd never expect such a great result from his first deployment. It was a difficult search. We're all so proud."

It was midday on 1 August when the pair, on their first day working together, were asked to search for a woman and baby who had not been seen for two days.

"They'd been missing for some time, so there was big concern," PC Lloyd said.

"There was a one-year-old baby, it wasn't a warm day and at night the temperature had dropped considerably. She'd been out all night with the child."

The woman's car was found on a mountain road which gave officers a location to search from, but there was still a vast area to cover given the amount of time she had been missing.

However, after 90 minutes, Max led PC Lloyd to the edge of a steep ravine.

"We were searching quite hard in a deep fern area and I thought I heard a little shout," PC Lloyd said.

"He spun his head, he looked up the bank and was very focused on where the shout came from.

"I reacted to that and then he guided me to where he thought it was, and together we were able to locate them."

As they neared, the woman was waving and calling for help. She and her baby were cold and tired, but unharmed.

PC Lloyd said: "He proved invaluable when he reacted to the call for help which resulted in us locating them. He is very pleased with the award - as am I."