Nowzad

Toby had started his life being taken care of by soldiers in one of the most inaccessible areas of Helmand province. He had been given to the base as a young pup and he was very sick as he had managed to eat some insecticide. Fortunately the base medics were able to pump his stomach and he soon recovered.

We first heard about Bolt in August 2012. Bolt had been company for the soldiers and contractors on his base all of his life and now a former US Marine at the base wanted to offer him a loving home in the USA.

Sadly the odds were stacked against Bolt and his Marine and before we could rescue him an order came down that Bolt had to be removed from the base or he faced being euthanized. Bolt’s team, heavy hearted had transported him to a nearby village where he could be looked after by local Afghans and headed back to base.

Rio’s soldier had been based in the UK for 4 years and they were due to return to the USA when they were given the news of a change in rules which meant that instead of the original price of just a few hundred $ it would cost to take Rio home it was now going to be a couple of thousand $.

Absolutely heartbroken at the prospect of only having a very short time to find the money to bring Rio home with them or leave him behind the soldier appealed to us for help.

In Aug 2012 our friends at Guardians of Rescue received a desperate please from a soldier in Southern Afghanistan. The soldier was getting ready to end her deployment and was desperately trying to find a way to take Toby who had been a great source of comfort to her whilst she was in Afghainstan to her home in the USA.

Ghost aka White Dog had been taken care of by a group of American soldiers in Southern Afghanistan since he was a young pup. He had proved to be a great source of stress relief for the soldiers and with an impending closure the soldiers could not bear the thought of leaving the dogs behind.

Red Cat had spent his life being taken care of by American soldiers on a base in Kabul. In August 2012 one of his caregivers decided he wanted to take Red home with him. It was his 5th deployment in Afghanistan and he desperately wanted to take Red home as he reminded him of one of his cats back home that had sadly died a few years before whilst the soldier was deployed.

Pippa arrived at the Nowzad shelter in 2011 along with her mother and siblings. Her mother, Momma Dog had been re homed in the USA and was now known as Meena and Pippa, Dashty and Jack remained here at the shelter.

In Sept 2012 we had been working with War Dogs Making It Home and once again they had now come to us to ask if we had another dog who would fit the profile for becoming a therapy dog for a veteran with PTSD.

Coco, Shadow, Minnie and Tigger were 4 gorgeous kittens that were being taken care of by an American contractor on a base in Kabul. The kittens spent their days entertaining the troops and contractors on the base but as is often the case word came that the cats had to be removed or they faced being euthanized.

Tiny came to the Nowzad shelter in August 2012. She had been raised on a base in Afghanistan by a contractor and a group of soldiers and now her contractor was getting ready to leave and wanted to take Tiny home with him.

Kala and her sister Dom arrived at the Nowzad shelter in May 2012. They had both been raised from young pups by an American contractor and they came to Nowzad for vaccinations, spay and some basic training to get them on the road to being therapy dogs for veterans with PTSD.

Both dogs settled in well and proved to be extremely affectionate and well behaved. They were very receptive to the basic commands they were being taught and soon the time came for Dom (now called Amaya) to go back to contractor owner for continuation of training and Kala would remain with us.