BUDAPEST, Hungary — After a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, half of Rambo’s face was mangled and bloody. Shrapnel had actually damaged the best side of his head, and it doubted if he would make it through.
Recovered from his brush with death in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv province, Rambo is finding out how to connect with kids, older grownups and handicapped individuals at cops presentations and rehab organizations, according to Lt. Col. Maria Stein with the Budapest Metropolitan Police.
The 3-year-old German shepherd, who had actually accompanied Ukrainian soldiers on the cutting edge of the war, went through emergency situation surgical treatment that saved his life. Now, Rambo is training with the Budapest cops department in surrounding Hungary and working as a suggestion that dogs — and individuals — with impairments can do terrific things.
Demonstrating the tasks carried out by canine systems becomes part of the department’s criminal activity avoidance program, with an objective of mentor youths to be more tolerant and to appreciate one another’s distinctions, Stein said.
“Nowadays, unfortunately, it happens that children mock each other because they wear glasses, because they have braces, because their ears look funny or whatever — because they’re different,” she said. “With Rambo, we might be able to sensitize these children a little and show them that, yes, he is injured, he’s different, but he can do the same things as other dogs. “
Rambo to serve young people after near death experience
Rambo’s journey to police service didn’t come easy. Last year, shrapnel from the rocket attack, which also injured some Ukrainian soldiers, blew away pieces of skull, damaging his jaw and severely mangling his right ear.
After his initial surgery, Rambo was taken to safety in western Ukraine. Violetta Kovacs, head of a Hungarian organization dedicated to rescuing German shepherds, soon collected him and brought him to a rehabilitation center near Budapest.
“The dog needed immediate help,” Kovacs, head of the German Shepherd Breed Rescue Foundation, said. “We had to operate again here in Hungary because several of his teeth were causing him great pain because of the injury, which required immediate intervention.”
Rambo invested 8 months at the center, where his jaw was rebuilded, his best ear cut off and a number of teeth gotten rid of. He went through training to be fraternized other dogs, Kovacs said, however his fondness for kids was clear from the start.
Gyula Desko, a lieutenant colonel with the Budapest Metropolitan Police, then embraced Rambo, offering him with additional training and a home.
He called Rambo a “very friendly, good-natured dog” who is making great development in his training and whose survival was “a miracle.”
“Working with him requires more patience and more attention, as we do not know what kind of mental problems his head injury caused him,” Desko said, however Rambo is “so open with people and accepts them, despite his injuries and the shock that befell him.”
It’s those qualities, Desko said, that the police hopes will motivate those who satisfy Rambo to open themselves to generosity and approval.
“As a police dog, one can see through him that you can live a full life even when injured, and can be a useful member of society and do very diverse things,” Desko said.
