Sri Lanka Retires MDD Bullet: Looking Back on 20+ Years of MLI Partnership
- MLI Staff
- Feb 25
- 3 min read
MLI is looking back on the events and programs that made 2025 an unforgettable year! Today, we're celebrating the incredible progress in landmine detection and removal over 21 years in Sri Lanka.
In May 2025, Sri Lanka’s last active MLI-sponsored Mine Detection Dog (MDD), Bullet, officially retired after a long career with the Sri Lanka Army’s Humanitarian Demining Unit (SLA-HDU). His exemplary work serves as a reminder of the impact of demining on Sri Lanka, and the longstanding SLA-HDU - MLI partnership.
MLI’s Mine Detection Dog Partnership Program in Sri Lanka began in 2004 with the arrival of six MDDs, including MDD Wyoming, the very first dog sponsored through MLI’s Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS). MDD Wyoming was sponsored by schoolchildren in Wyoming through a new initiative headed by Mrs. Diana Enzi, a life-long educator and the wife of Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming. Mrs. Enzi saw MLI’s work as a wonderful way to engage schoolchildren in an important humanitarian issue bigger than themselves, and CHAMPS continues to this day, with more than 50 lifesaving dogs sponsored by American children.
Over the years, MLI provided 34 highly trained dogs to Sri Lanka, each generously sponsored by a donor and each playing a critical role in searching for landmines and unexploded ordnance left from decades of conflict. These four-legged heroes restored safety to communities and paved the way for resettlement, agriculture, and economic growth.
The program’s journey was shaped by Sri Lanka’s turbulent history, including the 2004 tsunami and 2008 reignited civil war between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), intensifying the need for mine clearance. By 2011, following the end of the war, the SLA-HDU requested additional dogs to accelerate clearance efforts.
MDD Bullet, a Belgian Malinois partnered with Lance Corporal Manathunga Mudiyanselage Isuru Salika Bandara since 2017, exemplified the program’s enduring impact. Over their career, Bullet and L/Cpl Bandara assisted with the clearance of more than 77,000 square meters of land and detected 42 explosive remnants of war, including 13 anti-personnel mines and 20 mortars. The team’s work directly supported the resettlement and recovery of approximately 350 families, around 1,400 people.
Thanks to L/Cpl Bandara and Bullet’s excellent teamwork, this eight-year-strong man-dog team was nominated for MLI's 2025 Mine Detection Dog Team of the Year Award. In the nomination, they write: “Bullet’s activeness, tirelessness, accuracy, and loyalty towards his handler are incomparable. L/Cpl Bandara’s care and love towards Bullet is tremendous. They enjoy a lot together, which in turn helps to keep the team’s mental and physical health in good condition.”
MDD Bullet was generously sponsored by Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman) in 2017.
Over the years, donors like Northrop Grumman, families, foundations and CHAMPS schools sponsored MDDs for Sri Lanka, accelerating the pace of the SLA-HDU’s mine-clearance efforts. Many donors visited Sri Lanka to see firsthand the lifesaving work of these dogs. Their support helped sustain the program and keep the mission alive.
Over 21 years, the SLA-HDU have been excellent partners to MLI and stewards of our hero mine detection dogs. Sri Lanka’s MDDs have always been treated with dignity and respect, receiving exceptional care throughout their service, retirement, and even in death. The SLA-HDU treats their K9 comrades as heroes, honoring each dog with a burial ceremony upon passing.
The MDDs’ legacy is remembered in the fields they searched and in the lives they transformed. Over the duration of the program, MLI-donated MDDs have assisted with the clearance of nearly 1.5 million square meters of land, impacting thousands of people. Thanks to these efforts, farms, homes, villages, and livelihoods have been restored.
Sri Lanka is working toward a mine-free future and MLI celebrates our impactful partnership. The retirement of MDD Bullet is a testament to what is possible when compassion, commitment, and collaboration come together in humanitarian action.
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