Nowzad

We first heard about Sandbag and Hesco, the dog and cat adopted by British Forces serving in Iraq in April 2009. At this time I tried to contact the unit that were caring for them without success. In early Aug 09 my mother contacted me to tell me about the story of Sandbag the dog that was in the British Press. Emma Simpson of SWHP had launched an appeal to try and get Sandbag and Hesco the cat back to the UK. I knew that there was no way Emma would manage this without having someone in Iraq to co-ordinate so I sent an email to Blue Cross who were accepting the donations for this cause and they in turn got me in touch with Emma. This was the start of a 6 week roller coaster ride!

Mama found her owner, Erin, on Halloween 2008. Erin already had one cat so was determined to ignore this one. This was difficult to say the lease because Mama was extremely vocal….

Rosco, Shivers and Isis were the kittens of a cat called Mommy Cat. I was asked by Operation Baghdad Pup at same time as I took Whiskers and her kittens to Kuwait….

Mish Mish/Yeti’s owner, Suzanne was referred to me by a mutual friend in Erbil. She had found Mish Mish at around 2 weeks of age when his mother abandoned him. Suzanne did try to get the mother to take him back but with no success so Mish Mish/Yeti ended up being hand raised by Suzanne.

When Suzanne was getting ready to go home she contacted me asking for advice on how to get Mish Mish/Yeti out and via email I was able to advise her on the exact procedure she needed to follow and Mish Mish/Yeti flew back to the States early July 2009.

T-Bird’s owner, Tracy, came to me when she came across a kitten just a few weeks old that she wanted to rescue. She had witnessed the cruelty that can go on in Iraq not just from the local population but also from members of the expat community……

This is Bandit! After I brought Tigger home I absolutely swore there would be no more! That, of course didn’t last very long and within weeks I had found Bandit….

I did try hard at first not to have anything to do with Bandit, he was being cared for by the guard force at my place of employment. After a few weeks I decided to intervene as Bandit was not getting the proper food and care he required although the guards were doing the best they would with the resources they had. Bandit promptly moved into my trailer and the decision to take him back to the UK was made.

Gabriel, Gabe for short appeared just a few weeks after Zeus did. One of the teams had been out on a mission and found this gorgeous bundle of fluff and decided to bring him back…..

Zeus found me in November 2007 just a few weeks before Gabe arrived. Zeus had followed someone into the office one morning and he had got himself comfy and was not planning on leaving!!

Whiskers and her kittens were adopted by a serving US Soldier in Northern Iraq. Miracles had to be performed to get Whiskers and her babies out safely before KBR vector control got them…..

Miss Kitty’s owner contacted me back in March 2009. He was a serving US Soldier based in Northern Iraq and he had adopted Miss Kitty. His time was drawing near to when he was due to leave…….