Patron (dog)

Patron (Ukrainian: Патрон, pronounced [pɐˈtrɔn]; lit. 'cartridge'; born 20 July 2019[1]) is a detection dog and mascot for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.[2][3] He is a Jack Russell Terrier.

Patron
Patron sitting next to his Golden Paw Award awarded by the Irish Kennel Club, June 2022
BreedJack Russell Terrier
Born (2019-07-20) July 20, 2019
Chernihiv
Nation fromUkrainians
EmployerState Emergency Service of Ukraine
OwnerMykhailo Iliev
Named afterUkrainian word for bullet cartridge
Awards Order for Courage, Third Class.

Patron first came to prominence during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, during which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded him the Order for Courage for his work in locating and defusing unexploded ordnance left behind by Russian troops.[4] As of 8 May 2022, Patron has found 236 such devices.[5]

Life

Patron was born on 20 July 2019. He was purchased as a puppy by Mykhailo "Misha" Iliev (born c. 1990), a bomb disposal technician with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Iliev, who later became Patron's exclusive handler, originally intended to give the puppy to his son as a pet, but soon began training Patron as a detection dog instead.[6]

Patron standing next to two defused Russian land mines

After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Patron and Iliev began working to neutralize unexploded Russian bombs and land mines in and around Iliev's hometown of Chernihiv. Patron became a celebrity after the State Emergency Service posted a video on social media site Facebook on 19 March 2022.[7] The video, in which Patron can be seen sniffing around debris and sitting in Iliev's lap while wearing a small bulletproof vest personalized with his name in Cyrillic letters, went viral, garnering over 267,000 views and 16,000 reactions. On the same day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy's Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security reposted the video on the social media site Twitter, on which it garnered over 877,000 views, 27,000 likes, and 6,500 retweets (all numbers current as of 19 July 2022).

Patron in Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital, April 2022

Patron is also active in charity work, making visits to patients at Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv. Due to his viral fame, dangerous work, and charity appearances, Patron has been described as an "unexpected social media weapon" for Ukraine.[8] On 1 September 2022 Ukrposhta started selling Patron charity stamps to raise money for a demining vehicle and animal shelters.[9] It is noted that the growth of Patron's popularity can be part of the Ukrainian information strategy during Russia's invasion[10] (and Ukrainian propaganda as a whole),[11] including the use of viral videos with dramatic stories to form the desired narrative about the war,[12] and its award helped to attract additional attention to the problem of cleansing the clearance territories of Ukraine.[13]

On 5 May 2022, Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky announced the creation of the International Coordination Center for Humanitarian Demining, with Patron as its mascot.[14][15] Four days later, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accompanied by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, jointly honored Patron and Iliev with the Order for Courage, Third Class, thanking them for their service to Ukraine.[16][17]

On 27 May 2022, Patron was awarded the Palm Dog for "DogManitarian Work" at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[18]

UNICEF signed a memorandum of understanding with Patron's representatives recognizing Patron as Goodwill AmbassaDOG in Ukraine, on 20 November 2022, on the occasion of World Children's Day.[19]

In January 2023 a Patron YouTube channel was opened with an animated Patron starring.[20] The cartoons, with English and Polish subtitles, were produced with USAID support and in partnership with UNICEF.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Пес Патрон відзначає день народження". 20 July 2022.
  2. "Ukraine war: Minesweeping dog helps clear Chernihiv of Russian explosives". bbc.com. BBC News. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. Joe Golder; Graeme Murray (10 April 2022). "Brave bomb squad dog helps disposal experts in Ukraine clean up Russian landmines". mirror.co.uk. Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  4. "Ukraine's top canine deminer receives award from Zelensky". CNN. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  5. "The people of Ukraine and Canada stand side by side in the struggle for freedom against Russian tyranny - Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a meeting with Justin Trudeau in Kyiv". Official website of the President of Ukraine. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  6. Treisman, Rachel (9 May 2022). "Patron the bomb-sniffing dog cements his hero status with a presidential medal". NPR.com. National Public Radio. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  7. "Новини від Патрона! Наш войовничий песик - талісман чернігівських піротехніків продовжує нести службу! З початку війни він разом із саперами ДСНС знешкодив майже 90 вибухонебезпечних предметів. Дякуємо, друже, за невтомну працю🤝!". State Emergency Service of Ukraine. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  8. Maud, Sydney (11 July 2022). "Ukraine's unexpected social media weapon: Patron the dog". JPost.com. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. "Ukrposhta started selling Patron the Dog charity stamps". euromaidanpress.com. Euromaidan Press. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  10. Gavin Mortimer (24 May 2022). "Ukraine and a short history of dogs in war". The Spectator. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. "История Патрона: пес, который превратился из обычного питомца в сапера и мировую звезду". TVNET.lv. 15 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Популярность Патрона выросла настолько, что журналисты New York Times даже предположили, что это спланированная кампания со стороны украинской пропаганды
  12. Anushka Patil (8 May 2022). "A bomb-sniffing dog named Patron received state honors from Zelensky". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  13. Christian Schlüter (9 May 2022). "Patron, der Superschnüffler: Präsident Selenskyj zeichnet Minensuchhund aus" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  14. "The International Coordination Center for Humanitarian Demining has been established at the Ministry of Internal Affairs". odessa-journal.com. The Odessa Journal. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  15. "В Україні створено Міжнародний координаційний центр з питань гуманітарного розмінування" (in Ukrainian). Інтерфакс-Україна. 5 May 2022.
  16. Павлюк, Олег (8 May 2022). "Пес Патрон отримав нагороду від Зеленського". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian). Суспільне.
  17. Patron the mine-sniffing dog awarded medal by President Zelensky, BBC.com
  18. "Ukrainian Mine-Sniffer Wins 'DogManitarian' Award at Cannes Film Festival". Storyful. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022 – via Yahoo! News.
  19. "ЮНІСЕФ і улюбленець дітей Пес Патрон підписали меморандум про співпрацю до Всесвітнього дня дитини" [On World Children's Day UNICEF and Ukraine's children's favorite dog, Patron, signed a Memorandum of Understanding]. UNICEF Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 20 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  20. Yana Osadcha (10 January 2023). ""Destroyed Bridge": the first series of the animated series about the Psalm of Patron was released. VIDEO". Zhyttia ("Life") (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 10 January 2023.
External video
video icon Zelenskiy awards medal to bomb-sniffing dog. YouTube video (0:45). 9 May 2022
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