University of Denver Fall 2023

A DU dog’s 5,000-mile journey By Connor Mokrzycki Meet Kovac˘i

Photos of Ann Petrila and Kovači by Wayne Armstrong

If you are taking classes in the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, you might be joined by one of the most well traveled dogs on campus: Kovači. Part German shepherd, Weimaraner and mutt, Kovači was born on a street of the same name in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But he did not stay a stray for long.

When he was only three months old, Kovači was injured in a fight with another dog and hit by a car. The staff of the aptly named Hotel Kovači took the wounded pup in off the street, before an encounter that would set Kovači on a path untraveled by most Bosnian street dogs: A journey to the United States. In 2012, alumna and professor

of the practice in GSSW, Ann Petrila, (BA ’79, MSW ’82, MPA ’82) was leading her annual study abroad course, “Bosnia in Transition: The Social Work Response,” in which students learn about the culture, history and legacy of genocide in Bosnia. While in Sarajevo during the summer quarter, Petrila happened to be meeting with a representative

30 | UNIVERSITY of DENVER MAGAZINE • FALL 2023