The Belgian shepherd Sparky from the Pavlograd search and rescue canine unit " Over the years of service, the animal has helped find more than 200 bodies of the dead and saved at least three people, working in the most difficult conditions.

Sparky received the award as part of the author’s project “Dog-Hero of Ukraine”. This was reported by the head of the canine squad " Suspilne Dnipro also writes about this.

Sparky has been involved in search and rescue operations in different regions of Ukraine for more than ten years.. She worked in Kharkov, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev, Kherson, Rivne, Poltava, Kirovograd, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Kyiv regions. According to Larisa Borisenko, it was with Sparky that the author’s program for training universal dogs, capable of searching for living people in man-made rubble and the natural environment, as well as the bodies and remains of the dead, began in 2013.

Despite her advanced age - in two weeks the dog will turn 13 years old - she continues to perform complex tasks and remains an active participant in search missions. In the note, the leader of the squad, Sparky, is called a “living legend” and a unique specialist, involved since 2017 in the humanitarian project “On the Shield” of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition to search work, since 2014 the shepherd has provided psychological support to the military and children in specialized institutions and rehabilitation centers. Sparky is certified by the German organization GIZ as a therapy dog.. In October 2023, she already received an award from the Canine Union of Ukraine, and the current order became another recognition of her many years of service and contribution to the rescue and dignified return of people from oblivion.