Soldier hopes to send furry friend home from Iraq

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=2376561

Published Wednesday | May 2, 2007
Soldier hopes to send furry friend home from Iraq
BY ABE WINTER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Bellevue's Ronne Smith, who is serving in Iraq, wants to help a friend get to the States.

The Nebraska Humane Society wants to help in Smith's endeavor to have the friend - Taji, an orange tabby cat - waiting in Bellevue for Smith after her deployment. But it won't be easy, said Pam Wiese of the Humane Society.

Smith, a private first class in the Army, has cared for Taji at her military camp for about two months. Smith, fearing the cat would be euthanized because of fears of disease, last month e-mailed a request for help to the Humane Society in Omaha.

Wiese said the society will pay whatever costs are involved to ship the cat here before Smith's scheduled return. The group is seeking U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson's help.

"She started feeding it, and she'd like to get it back to the U.S.," Wiese said. "It would be a nice thing to have Taji here waiting for her when she gets home as a tiny 'thank you' for all she's done for our country."

Smith's superiors, Wiese said, would prefer not to have cats on the base. Smith isn't expected to be returning home for several months.

FULL story at link.

How can we help???

this sort of thing get arranged. Unfortunately I can't think of the name of the group but they've gotten some of the other animals out and home with the vets. Perhaps the State Dept. might have a clue as to the name of the group that works these kinds of miracles.

On edit: Found this on Google:

Operation Iraqi freedom goes to dogs: Vets help U.S. GIs bring pets home
DAVE SOMMERS, Staff Writer

In back alleyways and streets of towns across Iraq, U.S. service personnel must constantly be wary of insurgents who aim to kill and maim.

But in the midst of the bloodshed and peril, are a variety of lovable stray dogs, many of which have been "adopted" by American GI’s who want to bring their new-found pets home but can’t, due to costs and red tape.

Enter the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association, a group which recently launched a free program by which New Jersey National Guard members who bring back a scraggly pooch from Iraq can get their new pet examined for free.

"I was intrigued recently to read that some members of our armed forces .... are adopting local stray dogs that are ... very common in (Iraq)" said NJVMA President Clifford J. Sporn.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11292594&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6


There are probably other groups as well. Here is the Google search:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2006-49,GGLJ:en&q=vets+Iraq+pets+overseas+United+States

The local paper in Bellevue (Omaha suburb were I live) is working on a follow up story with a photo. I will post it when it goes online.

http://www.militarymascots.org/

Military Mascots is a grassroots all volunteer effort dedicated to the assistance of US deployed Service Members who have befriended a Mascot on Foreign Ground.

Mission: To heighten the Morale and support of US Service Members with mascots by offering care packages from "home" and providing them with Veterinarian and Humane Society contacts on their side of the world that may be of guidance in shipping their Mascots home to their families.

This website is designed for any US Service Member with a mascot to be able to find and make contact with folks who may be able to help their adopted friend come to the US to be with their own families prior to their redeployment.

It is the full responsibility of each Service Member to handle any military requirements required and to follow any US customs regulations for exporting an animal from the Country they are stationed at into the US.

All dogs & cats must be vaccinated by a veterinarian against rabies virus at least 30 days prior to traveling into the US and a health certificate must accompany them no more than 10 days prior to the flight.

Nope. Might compete with Halliburton's mouse-catching contract for $5,000 a mouse...

So many of the things I've read here are so distressing, about the things that we humans do to each other.
Being 'nice' to an animal doesn't make up for atrocities committed during a war- whether 'just following orders' or otherwise, but if someone is still able to connect with a pet, then (IMVHO) their own spark of humanity still exists and they aren't completely lost to themselves.
You have to be able to love something...or you end up becoming a very dangerous kind of person.

Just thinking of what an enormous fraction of my sanity I owe to my three cats...
and I don't have the excuse of being traumatized or wounded or maimed.