'He's going to do an excellent job': An Alberta pup heads to Ukraine to aid in the war effort

An Edmonton pooch is heading overseas to take on a new high-risk role in Ukraine.

Torch, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, will be joining the Ukraine National Guard to help sniff out explosives in cargo.

The working dog was raised by Alberta K9, a company specializing in breeding and training working dogs for public safety roles.

Matt Lapointe, who founded the company with his wife Kelsey Boettcher, said the couple wanted to help with the war effort in Ukraine.

"We decided we were going to donate an explosives detection canine," Lapointe said, adding that Torch is the first dog the company has ever sent overseas.

They partnered with Firefighter Aid Ukraine to arrange for Torch to help detect landmines for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine

"Unfortunately, shortly before we were making travel plans the handler that Torch was supposed to be going to was actually killed in the shelling attack by the Russian military," Lapointe said.

The unit's dog trainer was also killed. With the unit no longer able to take on Torch, new plans were made.

Torch will soon be joining the National Guard of Ukraine to screen cargo in vehicles.

"It makes us feel great," Lapoint said. "We know that Torch will go over, he's going to do an excellent job in protecting the public and detecting explosives and we're just excited to be able to help out."

Lapoint has been the main handler and trainer for Torch his entire life, and he will spend 10 days in Ukraine helping Torch fine tune his training and bond with his new handler.

Leaving him behind will be a bittersweet moment.

"It's hard, he's like a kid to us but we know he's going on to a higher job that he can help keep people safe and there's nothing better than that for us," Lapointe said.