+- Jamericans (https://jamericans.net/yellowboard)
+-- Forum: Jamaicaholics (https://jamericans.net/yellowboard/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Message Board (https://jamericans.net/yellowboard/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: No Dogs Left Behind (/showthread.php?tid=100712)
No Dogs Left Behind - Sharleen - 12-13-2014
This is a really good charity for any of you have can give a $5 buck donation. Lots of of young people have been deployed to Afghanistan, lots of them have adopted street dogs who have given them much comfort and love. Then when they come back home the pain of leaving their dogs is unbearable. I do remember having to leave a dog in Jamaica in 1978 -- little Ten Sing Pen, a sweet little shih-tzu. The Owners of Ten Sing Pen deserted the place & the little dog loved me & continually followed me up to my home past the lighthouse. I had to leave to the US when she had some kind of horrid worms coming out of her boddy, it broke my heard I tell you! I'm giving both of my bosses at work an "in your name
This organization helps to bring the dogs/cats back to the U.S.:
(CNN) -- Staff Sgt. Edwin Caba served in Afghanistan for nearly three years. Like his fellow soldiers, he longed for a sense of normalcy during his tours.
"We'd spend hours not sleeping, and rushing to eat meals, and staying on guard," said Caba, 26.
When a litter of puppies was born on the base where Caba served, the animals provided just the relief he needed.
"You walk in, and the dogs are wagging their tails, jumping on your legs and so excited to see you," Caba said. "You forget that you're halfway across the world, in a desert, with hostile things going on."
Pen Farthing's group has reunited nearly 700 soldiers with stray animal buddies in Afghanistan.
The soldiers began feeding, bathing and caring for the puppies, and Caba bonded with one in particular.
"She was sleeping on her back, with her mouth wide open, her tongue out a little bit and it was such a dopey thing to do -- and it's just like me," said Caba, who named the dog Cadence. "So I kind of knew that was it for me."
But a few months later, the soldiers' tour was coming to an end. Determined not to leave the dogs behind, they searched for a way to get them to America.
That's when Caba was connected with Nowzad Dogs. Since 2007, the organization has reunited hundreds of soldiers with the stray dogs and cats they rescued while serving on the front lines.
"On every single street corner in Kabul you will find stray dogs," said Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine sergeant who founded the nonprofit. "To be able to get that animal home to them, it closes the loop. ... They don't want to just abandon that animal."
Soldier's best friend
Farthing knows firsthand the bond that can form between a soldier and a dog. In 2006, while on patrol in Afghanistan, he and his troop encountered a dog fight.
"We broke up that dog fight not realizing that one of those dogs was actually going to adopt me," said Farthing, 45.
The dog followed Farthing back to base. They became friends, and Farthing named him Nowzad, after the town where he saved him.
Farthing relaxes with Nowzad in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2006.
My connection with Afghanistan stayed alive because of Nowzad.
Pen Farthing, founder of Nowzad Dogs
"He was just war-torn and battered, just like the town we were actually fighting over," he said.
For several months, Farthing and Nowzad filled an important void in each other's lives.
"As the troop sergeant, I was there to motivate the guys and get them fired up again to go out and do the job. ... But no one was doing that for me," Farthing said. "My time with this dog was a way of de-stressing, collecting my thoughts and popping my head back in the game."
After his tour ended, Farthing went through a difficult process to get Nowzad home to Britain. He realized he not only wanted to help other soldiers do the same, he wanted to do more to help Afghanistan.
"One day you are fighting the Taliban, and the next day you are home and grocery shopping," Farthing said. "When I got home, I thought, 'What am I doing here?' I didn't want to leave Afghanistan forever."
Today, Nowzad Dogs also works to promote animal welfare in the country.
The group's shelter and clinic in Kabul are staffed by 14 Afghan nationals, four of whom are trained veterinarians. The group spays/neuters street dogs and cats and vaccinates them against rabies to reduce the stray animal population. In turn, those efforts help protect residents by having fewer rabid animals roaming the streets.
Farthing said his organization has the only official animal shelter in Afghanistan. The group also places rescued animals in caring homes there.
, a former sergeant in the Royal Marines, is reuniting soldiers with the stray dogs they befriended while serving in Afghanistan. Farthing's nonprofit, Nowzad Dogs, has helped more than 700 soldiers from eight countries. For his work, Farthing was voted CNN Hero of the Year for 2014.
Farthing named his nonprofit for the stray he rescued during his tour. He said Nowzad filled an important void in his life: "My time with this dog was a way of de-stressing, collecting my thoughts."
Nowzad Dogs has a shelter and clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan, that includes several trained veterinarians. The clinic spays or neuters street dogs and cats. It also vaccinates them and gives them microchips.
Nowzad Dogs works to promote animal welfare in Afghanistan, a country that Farthing wants to retain a connection to.
Pets spend two to three months at the shelter before being transported to the soldier's home country.
Farthing says his dog, Nowzad, adopted him after Farthing broke up a dogfight.
Farthing's organization is one of the only official animal shelters in Afghanistan.
Nowzad Dogs' Kabul-based shelter and clinic are staffed by 14 Afghan nationals.
Farthing carries food for animals.
Nowzad Dogs has reunited almost 700 people with their adopted animals in Afghanistan.
<
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
>
>>
![[Image: 141114162841-08-cnn-hero-pen-farthing-11...allery.jpg]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/141114162841-08-cnn-hero-pen-farthing-1114-horizontal-gallery.jpg)
CNN Hero: Pen Farthing![[Image: bttn_close.gif]](http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif){kind=small}
![[Image: 141006213625-top-10-pen-farthing-0000372...y-body.jpg]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/141006213625-top-10-pen-farthing-00003726-story-body.jpg)
[/url]Top 10 Hero: Pen Farthing![[Image: 140818111337-cnnheroes-farthing-extra-00...y-body.jpg]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140818111337-cnnheroes-farthing-extra-00015417-story-body.jpg)
[url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/world/asia/cnnheroes-farthing/index.html?hpt=hp_c2#]
CNN Heroes: Nowzad DogsFarthing's group has reunited animals with nearly 700 service members from eight countries.
Soldiers' dogs and cats are first brought to the shelter in Kabul, where kennel manager and former British soldier Louise Hastie begins the quarantine process. All animals are spayed/neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped. They spend two to three months at the shelter before being transported to the soldier's home country.
Last year, Caba and fellow soldiers were reunited in New York with the puppies for which they had cared.
"When I pulled Cadence out of the crate at (the airport), I was just so excited. I was even more excited that she remembered me," Caba said. "It kind of brought me back to coming back after a mission and having her there. It brought me right back to that feeling."
Nowzad lived with Farthing in Britain for the last six years until the dog's recent death. For Farthing, he was a constant reminder of their journey.
"My connection with Afghanistan stayed alive because of Nowzad," Farthing said. "So for me, every time I look at him, it just makes me smile. I could never have dreamed that we'd be doing something like this in Afghanistan."
Want to get involved? Check out the Nowzad Dogs' website at www.nowzad.org and see how to help.
RE: No Dogs Left Behind - kylake - 12-14-2014
Thanks Sharleen, I will have to donate. I saw a story this weekend on TV about the program.
We had a dog that slept with us at night in Viet Nam, her name was Fluffy and if anything strange started happening she would be the first to alert us. We I left VN there was a guy that just arrived in country and loved her at first site. So Fluffy was passed to him. I often wonder when the war ended what ever happened to her.