The collar and jacket of a search and rescue dog from Northern Ireland was lovingly restored in the latest episode of The Repair Shop.
Neil Powell, founder of the Search and Rescue Dogs Association Ireland North (SARDA IN), was featured on the show on Wednesday. He brought the accessories of his border collie, Pepper, who responded to the Lockerbie disaster in December 1988, for repair.
The Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in south-western Scotland, killing all 259 on board. Another 11 people died when wreckage hit their homes.
Mr Powell attended the tragedy with his search dogs to find victims and recover bodies for five days following the bombing.
Many dogs that worked at the site developed health problems, notably cancer, and passed away at an early age.
On the show, he explained: “As a result of [attending the scene], poor Pepper, he and six other dogs all developed tumours in their nose and their windpipes.
“Not sure if it was the aviation fuel or what, but they died. It was heartbreaking.”
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Pepper qualified as a search and rescue dog at just 18 months old and assisted Mr Powell in a number of searches – internationally and nationally – and was involved in 14 mountain finds.
The Repair Shop expert Suzie Fletcher restored Pepper’s leather collar, which Mr Powell has held onto for more than 30 years. Rebecca Bissonnet also helped to clean the dog’s high visibility jacket and both were displayed in a framed box for Mr Powell to cherish.
“It is beautiful and something we now have to honour the incredible work Pepper did,” he said.
Mr Powell told this newspaper that attending the aftermath of the Lockerbie disaster had a “profound effect” on his life as a search and rescue dog handler for many years.
“It was absolutely awful and every one of us who was there agrees that your life is split into two parts from then on – before Lockerbie and after it,” he said.
“But it was a wonderful experience to be on The Repair Shop and to see Pepper’s memory being kept alive and honoured for all that he did.
“He was one of the best search and rescue dogs I ever had and seeing his collar and jacket restored really brought his wee character back to life. It was wonderful to see.”
Mr Powell established SARDA IN in 1974 when he trained his first ever search and rescue dog and said he feels “very lucky” to still be doing it over 50 years on.
SARDA IN, a registered charity, is the only Department of Justice-registered search and rescue dog organisation in Northern Ireland that is permitted to provide dogs in a search for missing people in support of the PSNI.
You can catch episode two of series 14 of The Repair Shop on BBC iPlayer
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