A brave citizen has been awarded a gold medal for his work detecting and disabling dozens of landmines in his native Cambodia. Oh, and he’s also a rat.

Magawa is a Giant African Pouched Rat, who has been trained to sniff out landmines and explosives. And he works fast – in 30 minutes he can sniff out an area of land that would take days to search with a metal detector.

For his efforts, Magawa was awarded a miniature version of the PDSA Gold Medal for “lifesaving bravery and devotion to duty” – and yes, he does wear the medal around his neck.

What heroic feats have your pets accomplished?