US Military rips away pet of deployed US Soldier shortly before Baghdad Pups can send puppy to safety in Minnesota
- October 7, 2008 at 9:49 AM by justplainsuz
- 40 Comment(s)
- 1347 Total Views
My husband husband found this on Digg and had to send it to me. WTF. WTF!!!! So these soldiers who
bravely fight these wars wake up to the horrible reality that they
could die any minute, are court marshaled for having pets? You take our
proud friends and family members to fight this selfish war and you
can't even have allow them to have a pet that gives them the strength
and courage to fight another day. That is sick and twisted.
Please pass this story on, and write to your Senators! Thank you.
http://www.getfreshminds.com/2008/10/baghdad-pups.html
US Military rips away pet of deployed US Soldier shortly before Baghdad Pups can send puppy to safety in Minnesota
(This isn't my normal fare here, but I had to write about this because it is so tragic. Please read.)
One of my good college friends is in Iraq right now. A couple months ago, she told me about Baghdad Pups, a really amazing organization that provides medical care, clearance and transport for the animals U.S. soldiers have come to love during deployment in the Middle East.
There are some initiatives that everyone - regardless of their political views - can agree are fabulous. This is one of those.
Baghdad Pups gives our soldiers hope by helping them send their pets home to safety. It's such a unique and touching idea. I couldn't wait to write about it.
Except today, I wish I could be writing about anything else. Because something so awful has happened that I'm writing this through tears.
My friend has been held in Iraq by the stop-loss policy for over 15 months longer than her original commitment to the military. It hasn't been easy for her--and the puppy she saved has been one of the few things that has kept her going.
We've been hearing about her puppy, Ratchet, on Facebook for months. She's shared pictures of him as he grew from a frightened ball of fur to an adorable young dog. We learned when he was accepted into Baghdad Pups, and how her parents were going to take care of him until she returned home. She's kept us up-to-date on his travel schedule, and badgered us into contributing money to bring him home.
He was supposed to be on his way to Minnesota right now. Except he's not.
Last Wednesday, my friend's commanding officers seized Ratchet as he was on the way to the Baghdad airport en route to his new home with her parents.
Why? Because:
"It is against military regulations for active duty troops to befriend animals"
It gets worse. According to the Baghdad Pups press release on my friend's behalf:
"Soldiers can face immediate court-marshal [for befriending animals] and some even see their animals brutally murdered by a direct gunshot to the head from commanding officers who will not bend the rules."
It was so close.... Ratchet was on his way to the airport. And now he might be killed, just because some power-hungry officers decided to flex their muscles and punish an innocent animal because Gwen dared to care about him.
And to make it even worse, she is under military investigation for caring about a helpless puppy--something hundreds of other soldiers do in Iraq.
She is absolutely devastated. I'm devastated for her. I cried for days last fall after the cat I rescued died of old age. I can't imagine how horrid it would be to save and love a pet, to be full of hope that he will be a part of your life after you finally come home - and to have that cruelly snatched away.
I don't know why this has happened to her. She has been through so much already. It's just awful.
Please help me get attention for her. She hasn't asked, but I'm hoping that we can help her.
This horrible situation is happening to Gwen, but it affects all our soldiers overseas. They're in a terrifying situation every day, and it's not unreasonable to let them have the simple joy of having an animal that loves them. Is it?
As a soldier wrote to Baghdad Pups:
“I have sacrificed a lot to serve my country. All that I ask in return is to be allowed to bring home the incredible dog that wandered into my life here in Iraq and prevented me from becoming terribly callous towards life.”
Could you take a minute to help spread the word about what is happening to my friend? We want to get news out there about her case before the military decides to "eliminate the problem" by killing her dog.
Could you please Digg or Stumbleupon this post or send it to a friend. Or, if you're in MN, could you call one of our senators?
All we want to do is help Gwen send home the puppy that has made her sacrifices bearable... who was already on his way to Minnesota before the military decided to punish her by seizing him.
Thank you so much for your help!
Tags: baghdad pups, military, power hungry, soldiers, heart broken, pets
- Written by justplainsuz on October 7, 2008 at 9:49 AM
- 1347 total views
- See all posts by justplainsuz
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Comments:
That's just ridiculous! You hear about these pups all the time being brought home for their soldiers! If you ask me, those animals are doing as great a service to those soldiers as the soldiers are doing for us. How sad. I hope she gets her puppy back.
There is a special place in hell for those that don't FULLY support the troops- and their physical, mental, emotional health.
There is nothing sensical about this. Our government should be wholly ashamed. This is such a small thing to ask. We KNOW how good animals are in terms of emotional health. Come on America! We ARE Better than this!! Let's bend to the good angels of our nature- JUST ONCE.
That's fucked up beyond measure. I just got a very good friend back from Afghanistan, and as he showed us pictures of himself and his brothers-in-arms, where they lived, what they dealt with, etc, we got to see pictures of some of those guys petting and playing with some of the dogs there. Those men (and women) do so much, and war can fuck you up. Why would they want to destroy what little bit of happiness they find over there? It makes me physically ill.
I was in tears for hours after I read this. My husband sent it to me knowing damn well I was going to try and do something about it. I have written to my Senator and I have written to the Senators of MN. Please, everyone..for the troops, do your part to give them a little bit of happiness that they can to keep them strong.
How awful.
this is horrible can I steal it and post it on my blog and on myspace?
Studies have proved that pets help with the mental well being of their owners. We can't claim to know what those soldiers go through or see over there, but I'm willing to bet, for most, it's not good. They are so far removed from friends and family. For this to happen is atrocious.
I agree that it seems a bit callous to enforce this rule as the dog is being shipped to the airport. It would seem that if they had a problem with her befriending the puppy they should have addressed it in the beginning ... having the dog sent home seems more like a solution to the problem.
I do have to play devils advocate as well though and say that I understand why the rule would be necessary in the first place. Having a pet can be comforting and rewarding but it can also manifest into problems. What if the dog starts barking and betrays the soldiers positions or if the dog is carrying an illness or disease, or bites a soldier, or if the solider gets concerned with the welfare of the dog and is distracted from the task he/she is performing, or if there is limited rations and soldier is feeding the dog, who's allowed to keep a pet (they can't all have pet's with them).. etc... It would be impossible for the military to account for all of these issues on an individual basis so I think its probably a good policy that befriending animals is not allowed... it just seems like there was a poor choice of enforcement in this case.
I am appalled. This is just horrible!!! That poor puppy was going to safety! If it is the military's position that a "pet" would be a distraction to the soldier, then, for crying out loud, LET IT GET TO THE STATES!!! It would be away from her...she wouldn't be distracted...and the darling puppy would be SAFE! Instead, they seize him on the way to the airport??? How incredibly STUPID is that????? She is going to be way more distracted now! She will be suffering and mourning and IN PAIN!!! God they are idiots. IDIOTS!!! I will do what I can to make this known. This is just unbelievable.
Really. They put our soldiers in harms way for a war that NEVER SHOULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED and then take away the one thing that can bring them happiness and peace? Yeah, military intelligence is definitely a contradiction in terms!!! IDIOTS!!!
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Oh, that's so disheartening. My heart goes out to her, the loss of a pet can be just as traumatic as the loss of a fellow human. Such a sad world we live in some times.
BlueOrchid1122 Oct. 7, 2008 at 10:28 AM