PDSA's animal awards programme exists to recognise animal bravery and devotion to duty.
The most famous and the oldest of the charity’s awards is the PDSA Dickin Medal. Instituted in 1943 by PDSA’s founder Maria Dickin, it acknowledges outstanding acts of bravery displayed by animals serving with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units in any theatre of war, worldwide.
The Medal is recognised as the animals’ Victoria Cross and is the highest British honour for animal bravery in military conflicts.
The charity is also responsible for the
PDSA Gold Medal widely acknowledged as the animals’ George Cross to recognise animals whose incredible bravery and dedication results in the saving of human or animal life in extraordinary situations.
Instituted in 2002 the PDSA Certificate for Animal Bravery and the PDSA Commendation for Animal Bravery also support the charity’s commitment to raising the profile of animal devotion above and beyond the call of duty.
To request more information about any of the above PDSA awards please use the
Award contact form.
