Paws of War rescues 7 puppies from Middle East for special mission on Long Island
Paws of War organized a rescue effort for the puppies found and rescued by active service members.
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A Long Island-based organization rescued seven puppies from the Middle East for a special mission.
Paws of War organized a rescue effort for the puppies found and rescued by active service members.
Paws of War President Robert Misseri says the pups will have an important mission on Long Island.
"These dogs are not only changing lives for our veterans and active military, these dogs are actually saving lives,” he said. "It's a very rough environment for these dogs to live in these areas. And they bonded with these puppies, they got them back to health. They knew one thing, they were not going to leave them behind."
The problem is service members are not allowed to bring the dogs home. That's where Paws of War stepped in to help.
Derek Cartwright is an Army veteran and a logistics coordinator for Paws of War. He said this mission was important to carry out for a few reasons.
"The US soldiers serving, that's one. The pups having a life, that's two. And getting them their forever homes, is number three," said Cartwright.
The organization tried three times to rescue the pups from the base in the Middle East, but pulled back because the area was under attack. A fourth attempt proved successful. Cartwright says he was not backing down even after each failed attempt.
"I left a dog when I was in Iraq in 2012 and I had to live with that and I don't know what happened to that dog,” he said. “Being able to help these soldiers get these dogs out is just me doing my part."
The puppies will receive more testing, then they'll go home with the family members of the service members who rescued them.
