Tsunami almost didn’t live to see old age.
He was rescued from a home where he was abused when he was just a puppy. Nine years later, that same border collie walked through the streets of Maracaibo, Venezuela, riding on a fire truck, while hundreds of people applauded him like a hero.
And in a way, he is. Alongside his trainer Jorge Beens, Tsunami helped locate nearly 26 people alive amid the rubble left by the twin earthquakes of June 24, 2026, in Venezuela. In nearly a decade of service, the pair has participated in the rescue of around 300 people, including missions in Turkey and Syria.
On September 16, the city returned the gesture: it unveiled a bronze statue called ‘Guardian of Hope’, created by Venezuelan sculptor Josué Benjamín Figueroa, who is just 17 years old. The Fire Department awarded him the Medal of Valor. City Hall gave him the Honor for Merit Pin. A dog who one day meant nothing to someone now has his name carved forever beside Lake Maracaibo.