Six-year-old Julie, a canine of the NDRF, has been awarded with a commendation certificate for sniffing out and helping rescuers to save the life of a little girl who was buried under mounds of rubble in earthquake-hit Turkiye in February, officials said Saturday.

The female Labrador was part of the Indian National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team that was sent as part of 'Operation dost' to rescue and provide relief to the victims of the massive 7.8 magnitude quake that struck Turkiye and neighbouring Syria on February 6.

Julie has been awarded the 'director general's commendation role' for undertaking excellent search and rescue work during this operation. She has been chosen for this award for the specific role she played in sniffing out life from the debris of a multi-storey building which led to the rescue of six-year-old girl Beren who was trapped for more than 70 hours, a senior officer said.

Beren was rescued from Gaziantep area of Turkiye and after Julie first indicated a live victim, her colleague Romeo, a male Labrador canine, too confirmed the presence of life through his barks.

Julie is working with the 2nd battalion of the NDRF that is based in Calcutta.

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