Tuscaloosa Family Holds Dog Adoption Day in Honor of 2 Men Captured in Ukraine

By Jonathan J. Mena Last updated Sep 15, 2022

TUSCALOOSA, Ala, (WBRC) – A Tuscaloosa family is sponsoring a dog adoption event this weekend to honor and raise awareness for two Alabama men being held somewhere in the Ukraine region. Alex Drueke of Tuscaloosa and Andy Huynh of Hartselle were captured in June 2022.

To tell this story, we start with a very big dog named “Diesel”. He weighs over 100 pounds, adopted six years ago by Alex Drueke, one of two men captured while helping the Ukrainian army.

In partnership with the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter, the Drueke family is sponsoring what they call “Big Dog, Big Hearts” Adoption Day on Saturday, August 13, 2022. The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of Forrest Lake United Methodist Church on 4th Avenue in Tuscaloosa.

“We’re doing this because we want to honor Alex and Andy. They both love dogs. Saturday will be two months to the day since I got the phone call they’ve been missing and presuming captured, so c t’s the perfect time to organize this event to make it something happier,” said Bunny Drueke, Alex Drueke’s mother.

Bunny Drueke says they’ve already raised a thousand dollars to help pay for the adoption costs of 10 large dogs. As for Alex and Andy, no word when they might be coming home. Bunny says she last spoke with her son in late July and he asked about “Diesel.”