A soldier was caught on camera breaking down into tears during the funeral of his late detection dog whom he had worked with for over a decade.
Wang Rujian in a soldier and an animal handler from China who had trained and took care of Tianbao the spaniel for long twelve years before the pooch succumbed to organ failure.
During the animal’s funeral service, Rujian held on to his beloved dog’s gravestone tightly before bursting into tears and placing his head against the headstone.
“Tianbao, it was worth having you all the way. May you rest in peace,” the grieving soldier from the Shandong Province said.
According to the reports, Tianbao the English Springer Spaniel and Wang met in 2008 when the dog was set to be trained as a sniffer dog for the local fire service by the soldier.
As the Shandong Firefighting Department confirmed, Tianbao participated in over 30 major operations together with his handler.
Described both as ‘timid’ and ‘courageous’ by his handler, the loyal pooch earned the title of a ‘meritorious dog’ back in 2011 after helping rescue survivors of the tragic 7.1-magnitude earthquake that took place in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in April 2010.
According to Wang, his brave companion not only helped rescue trapped locals from debris but also saved his life after he ended up trapped under rubble.
“After that, Tianbao and I became partners of life and death,” the soldier told local media.
Throughout the years, the pair continued to outperform in rescue operations until Tianbao’s retirement in 2016.
While the pooch was initially taken in by a kennel, Wang requested his supervisors to let him take care of Tianbao because the pooch allegedly wasn’t happy at the shelter.
After the soldier’s request was approved, Tianbao lived with Wang for four years before succumbing to multiple organ failure.
To honor the loyal dog who helped rescue countless people, the Shandong Firefighting Department paid a tribute to Tianbao in a special ceremony at the Meritorious Dogs Cemetery in Jinan.
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