Oleg Neborak, a policeman from Mariupol, with the help of volunteers, searched for and returned his dog Ben, who was separated from him by the war for 9 months.
Volunteers found the dog in the town of Boykivske, 60 km from Mariupol, and returned it to the family across several borders, reports the communications department of the Donetsk region police.
The press service noted that Neborak, the head of the prevention department of the GUNP in the Donetsk region, from the first days of a full-scale invasion of aid to the townspeople. Together with other law enforcement officers, he delivered medicine and food, helped with evacuation and prevented looting.
Neborak said that his family also stayed in the city. All this time, their pet – a German shepherd named Ben – was with them. However, on March 8, an enemy shell destroyed the policeman's house, and the dog ran away, frightened by the shelling.
"My colleagues and I brought medicine and humanitarian aid to people at the drama theater. And there is a grandmother selling flowers. I think I will buy flowers and give them to my wife. And all around are bombings, everything is exploding, shells are flying. And when I drive up, I see something burning badly, I understand that this is our home. The gate was torn off by the blast wave. And Ben got scared and ran away. We looked for him, but we didn't find him," he shared Neborak .
He emphasized that even after the evacuation from the city, he did not stop looking for the four-legged friend, in particular with the help of volunteers.
"Every week, the volunteers sent me photos of dogs that looked like mine. But it wasn't Ben. One day they sent me a photo of my dog. I recognized him right away. After all, we got him when he was two months old on my birthday. He was the fastest among other puppies. Volunteers said that they found him all the way to Telmanovo [the former name of the town of Boikivske - ed.]," he said.
Neborak added that the rescue of the animal was joined by international volunteers, who opened a collection of funds for the return of the dog from the occupied territory to Ukraine.
"Ben had to cross several borders, travel thousands of kilometers, see many people, in order to finally meet his family, who did not stop searching for him for a moment and believed in reunification," the press service emphasized. – We express our sincere gratitude to the volunteers who search for and return pets to their owners. After all, during the war, it is important to remember our four-legged friends, who find it difficult to survive without our help."
As EcoPolitic reported before, Olga Sarmatova evacuated from Mariupol, which was under siege, along with her 50 pug dogs and a French bulldog.
