He didn’t bark, he begged. His black fur was matted, his ribs pressed against thinning skin, and his eyes… they screamed louder than words.
Bruno Yovich had seen many dogs during his rescue missions, but this black German Shepherd stopped him cold. The moment their eyes met, Bruno swore he heard him speak:
“Please help me… please.”
Embolo was one of 1,200 dogs trapped inside a city shelter in Bosnia that was originally built for just 300. Overcrowded, filthy, and forgotten, most dogs there never leave. But Embolo became the first. Bruno opened that rusty gate, and the shepherd leaped not just into freedom, but into a new life.
Bruno named him Embolo and took him straight to his rescue ranch. There, Embolo received what every dog deserves: a warm bath, vaccines, food, and gentle human hands. The change was almost instant. He wagged his tail, lifted his head, and ran across the open fields like he’d been waiting to be free forever.
Six years ago, Bruno wasn’t a rescuer. He was a tattoo artist who never owned a dog—until he adopted a tiny French Bulldog named Mia. “She was everything,” Bruno says. “She made me love dogs.” That love sparked the creation of Save the Dogs BiH, an organization now responsible for saving thousands of lives.
Today, Bruno’s first ranch shelters 200 dogs, and this year, he built a second to hold up to 500 more. His team also cares for 850 dogs still living inside the brutal city shelter, rescuing those in the worst condition first. Many come malnourished, wounded, or victims of illegal dog fights.
“I see them like my kids,” Bruno says. “They deserve more than cages, they deserve a life.”
At the ranch, dogs like Embolo roam free under the Bosnian sky. They eat, play, heal, and most of all feel loved. Every tail wag, every bark of joy, is a piece of Bruno’s dream coming true.
Embolo now runs like the wind, no longer begging, no longer afraid. He is not just a survivor, he is proof that even the most forgotten soul can be reborn.
In a world that caged him, Embolo found his wings. And Bruno gave him the sky.
