This statue and the rescue it depicts are on the Ulken River in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The statue was created by Yerbosyn Meldibekov, a popular Kazakh artist.
In 2016, residents of Almaty formed a human chain to rescue a dog and its owner who had become trapped in a river. Ten years later, in March
[VD: a video featuring the 2026 unveiling of the statue described above. A crowd of people watch and cheer. It features a chain of four people descenting into a canal. The lowest of which is holding the collar of a dog. After the clip of the unveiling, a video is shown of the 2016 inspiring incident. A person descends the concrete slope of the canal into the shallow but fast flowing water. A dog stands in the middle of the water, near a lip which drops further down. The person grabs the collar of the dog to pull it toward the edge. Four more people, with assistance from a fifth, form a chain by holdings hands down the wall of the canal. Together with the person in the water, they pull each other and the dog up to safety. /end VD]
People in the notes have also described that the hand of the top most person in the statue chain extends beyond the barrier fence so that passers by can grab it. It is allegedly polished to a gold colour by frequent contact.
