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"The saga of the cubs started last month when U.S. counterterrorism troops, carrying out humanitarian work in the Gode region, discovered that the animals' owner was keeping them tied up with ropes around their necks at his restaurant and forcing them to fight each other for the amusement of patrons and village children. One cub is blind in one eye.
The soldiers alerted the Ethiopian government and a U.S.-based cheetah rescue organization, drawing international attention to the cubs' plight. They also tried to persuade restaurant owner Mohamed Hudle to hand over the cubs, but he wanted $1,000 for each animal -- 10 times the average income in this impoverished nation of 77 million people.
Fekadu, the veterinarian, intervened. He flew to the village Saturday, confiscated the cubs and handed them over to U.S. forces for Tuesday's transport. The vet said Mohamed was not paid for the animals and that both had received antibiotic treatment and appeared in good health.
"Had we not had the help of the U.S. military, it would not have been possible to rescue these animals," Fekadu said after arriving with the cubs aboard the U.S. plane."
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