Chipping Norton animal-lovers are remembering the army of dogs, horses and other animals that served alongside the soldiers in conflicts this Remembrance Sunday.

Bonnie Cowdrey, who has been a dog walker for 17 years, came up with the idea of a dog accompanying the Sunday parade to St Mary’s Church, led by the Royal British Legion, 10 years ago.

This year black Lab Molly has been chosen to do the honours and will wear a coat made by Kerry Forkner from Fibreworks paid for by the Town Council and Royal British Legion and featuring the emblems of both.

Each year Kerry has embroidered the coat with the name of the dog who attends the parade.

Bonnie said: “The idea came pretty much by accident after a friend was asked to be a marshall by the RBL at the back of the parade. He said he would like to bring his dog and people, particularly the children, seemed to like it so after that it became a tradition.

“An awful lot of animals were used in the wars – have a box of tissues ready if you’ve ever watched War Horse - literally thousands of horses died in the First World War, dogs have been used in Afghanistan to sniff out IEDs. One soldier told me he often parachuted out of a plane with a dog strapped to him. I've read that even slow worms were used in the war.”

In 2006 the charity Animal Aid produced a purple poppy as a way to commemorate animals which served during conflicts as the charity viewed that they had been the forgotten victims of war.

Historically the greatest number of animal casualties in conflict have been horses and ponies.

Mrs Cowdrey added: “For the parade I always choose a dog that’s calm on the lead. They can't be skitterish because of the military band, the children and the people lining the street, it’s a noisy event.

“They walk to the church and then play in the park when the service is on before walking back up to the town. And they have a photo opportunity with the mayor.

“The owners are always delighted to be asked and Pets Corner pet shop features a picture of the dog of the year in their window."

Molly was rescued by current owners Clive and Amy Platt after her former owner passed away. "So it’s really nice for them following their good deed, they are really delighted," said Bonnie.

“Children always ask me lots of questions about the dogs, it really engages them with the event, and that’s got to be a good thing if we want these remembrance services to go on into the future.”