Heading To Freedom Soon

"Abu was presented to another soldier (he was in a box) from a civilian while on a convoy. The other solider brought him to me. He was scared and looked like he had not been taken care of at all. He was so frightened he would constantly shake. It had taken days for him to become comfortable with me. When he did his personality had come shining through. Being on deployment can be very dfficult with being away from your home, friends, and family; Abu has made it much easier for me being away from home.

When meeting this puppy and bonding with him, I couldn't help but think of Aladdin. My new friend has become just as dear to me as Abu (the monkey) is to Aladdin. I can not leave my friend behind when I leave this country, so I am more than willing to see to it that he makes it home with me."

"Someday Abu, things are gonna change. We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all." -Aladdin

"When I arrived in Safawi my unit had come across a litter of puppies and brought them back to the

compound. Since then I would spend my free time with Shrimp and his siblings bonding/ taking care of

them.

My family and I recently lost our older dog to cancer a few months back, inviting Shrimp into our family

will help \ll the void we have. I'm sure we'll give him a great home and a better life."

"While delayed in Jordan during travels, I had the pleasure of running into Angela with her following of

about [ve puppies. They were so loving and playful and brought so much warmth and sense of home to

such a small empty place. It made me miss my German Shepherd back home. When I was told of the

great program that was being offered, I had to be a participant and take one of these cuties back with

me. I remember sitting in the bench waiting for a ride to the terminal and one of these precious little

pups walked over and put his head right on my boot and began to take a nap. The decision was made

from then on. I knew I was taking one home!"

Rouge was brought into my life as a scared and hopeless pup found by a dumpster covered in dirt and rotten pieces of food. I simply want her to live a better life and see humans nice beings and capable of love and compassion. I’m bringing her home to show her that she doesn’t need to scared anymore."

"I wish to bring Bailey home because she is so precious. She showed up out of know where half way

through my deployment and has been the sweetest girl. I always take extra food for my meals to bring

back to her and make sure she has water and something to lay on in the hot weather here. Every time I see her despite the conditions here her tail wags and she rolls over on her back in excitement and I couldn’t bare leaving her behind. I would love to give her a good life back in the states with me."

"Hoodcat came into base via the engine bay of a car it was hiding in, hence the name. Talking to the

owner of the vehicle we found out he traveled roughly 30 miles under the hood of the car. He initially ran

away but after some time became back and slowly warmed up to us. He now lives in our area and made

friends with another cat in the area. The base is currently closing down and the last thing we want is to see him left behind without anyone to take care of him."

"While doing off base patrol, Kiah ran out past our truck into a trash pile. We went up to her, looking for litter mates and mama. She was all alone, living in trash, and was so young. I picked her up, knowing what her fate would be if I left her there. She rode around with us the rest of the day, and I quickly fell in love with her personality. "

"While deployed to Afghanistan; Miles and Otis were being taken care of by soldiers on the base.  As many are aware, dogs in Afghanistan are treated differently and looked at much differently than dogs in the West. Miles and Otis are large blonde Shepard dogs and it's easy to be nervous around them and uncertain due to their size. On top of this; soldiers are not authorized to have "pets" and so they were going to be euthanized or shot. I  spoke with the Command on base and we came to an agreement to keep them out of sight until I could get them off base. I was given 2 days to do this. I took them to an enclosed compound where a few friends helped me secure the area so the dogs would not escape and watch over them when I couldn't be there. Over the next 36 hours, I called to find help to coordinate the dogs departure off base and a ride up to Kabul to be seen by a vet. I only spent 36 hours with Miles and Otis, but in that short time, I came to realize many things about them.  They seemed completely unphased by the world around them.  They were young and used to human touch; they couldn't get enough of belly rubs. They were like brothers and played with one another. Miles would play fetch and they would love to eat peanut butter. Otis would see me coming and immediately roll over for belly rubs. Miles would be attached to my hip and moved when I moved.  They both have the most amazing colored eyes - Miles a bright brown and Otis a golden Amber. They are both so friendly, full of energy and life and also extremely relaxed in their environment around people. It was a Sunday when I found them and they left Tuesday morning in early March. I haven't seen them since and I look forward to reuniting with them. I only spent 36 hours with them, but they left a lifetime impact on me."

"Casper is a stray dog that was wounded and scared, running loose on our base. He slowly started to trust people, and through food and time he became quite friendly. He has a quiet but sweet personality, and I soon realized that although he needed my help, I needed him too... The human animal bond took over, and I knew I had to do something to try and rescue him. His wound is slowly healing, and so is my heart."

"I chose the name lucky because I am truly lucky to have found him. He’s changed my life for the better. In a place where there is so many things that have gone wrong, I am happy to find a dog that is so happy

and playful. I want to bring him home so he can have a better life there."

"I just got to Romania about two months ago for a military deployment . Since I’ve been here there’s been stray dogs everywhere. This one dog in particular I always seem to find and run into. He always wants attention and I feed him when I can and give him attention every chance I can. He is very friendly, follows me everywhere and looks like he’s lived a hard life. He has a scar on his head near his eye and it breaks my heart not to be able to take him inside our barracks and take care of him. I have two dogs at home that I’m missing terribly and he reminds me of them and I just wish to send him home to join our family as I know they would get along great and he deserves a chance to live a good life with a house, other “siblings” for him and genuine love. I named him Roma after Romania."

I went to visit a local vet clinic and there were several abandoned puppies at this location. Munchkin and

I connected immediately and when I picked her up she just melted in my arms. I couldn’t just leave her to be released back on the street so I decided to figure out a way to rescue her."

"Rawlins is a laid back sweet lab and I'd like to provide her with a better home."

"Scrappy was found on an American military post here. When I first met him at the vet, he was really

apprehensive of humans and cowered in the corner. I knew as soon as I saw him I wanted to try and get

him to trust me. I sat on the ground and brought lots of treats and let him come to me, which is slowly

did, and could tell he had a lot of love to give. I’m really excited to bring him home and give him a like full of friendly humans, lots of chew toys, and hopefully one day, lots of cuddles. Thank you for the

opportunity to do that!!"

"One of the locals had her tied up in the back of a truck with electrical wire wrapped around her neck, so I took the dog and have been caring for her.  I want to bring her home to my family.  I cannot leave her behind to suffer."

"When I got to our camp I developed an instant bond with Stubbs who was brought to the camp as a small puppy over a year prior. After long and hard days I sit on the small deck that we built, and he would curl up next to me and help me relax. He sleeps in my room at night and nudges me with his cold wet nose in the morning to wake up and let him out. When I go for runs in the morning Stubbs is my most committed partner.  My wife and I have been wanting a dog for a while now, and we just got our large back yard fenced in before this deployment so our home if final ready to add Stubbs as our newest family member. My wife and I both grew up with dogs, and when I FaceTime her Stubbs is always right there.  I don’t know how much longer we are going to be occupying this camp, and I want to ensure Stubbs has the home that he deserves back in the US. We have formed a special bond between us, and I can no longer imagine not having Stubbs as part of my life."

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