The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has disrupted the lives of millions of people, including animals. Many animals have been removed from their homes and left stranded in dangerous regions while many people attempt to get them to safety.

Fortunately, one canine evacuated from Ukraine has found a “new leash on life” as a police K9 in the United States.

Bruno, a one-and-a-half-year-old Labrador, was rescued and transported to Southwest Florida from war-torn Ukraine.

“So Bruno has been a globe traveler thus far in his life,” Bruno’s new handler Detective Harrison Williams told WINK News. “He came from Ukraine, his family left Ukraine when the Russian invasion happened.”

After being uprooted from his home by war, Bruno recovered fast and found a new purpose: a German K9 handler spotted the dog’s potential as a police K9 and contacted the Fort Myers Police Department about a possible new recruit to their narcotics section.

“I said, ‘This dog has some work drive; let’s see if we can put him to work,’” Detective Williams explained. “After a 10-hour journey from Amsterdam, Netherlands, he arrived at Miami International Airport, and I drove down to Miami to pick him up.”

Bruno is presently being trained by the Fort Myers Police Department to be a narcotics detection dog. According to the department’s Facebook post., “Bruno will be a single purpose drugs detection canine attached to our Group Violence Intervention Unit.”

It’s difficult work, but Bruno is ecstatic about his new position.

“He runs inside the truck, eager to go,” Williams told WINK

Bruno is safe and out of Ukraine, and we wish him the best of luck in his new profession as a police K9!

Please pass on this wonderful news.