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Bringing home the loving pets of U.S. soldiers deployed overseas.
Nick Kingsley, a Rhode Island National Guard soldier, was stationed in Kosovo, and about to eat lunch, when he spotted a stray puppy, injured and hungry.
On that bitterly cold November day, Nick checked this tiny pup. "I noticed she had a puncture wound on her head," he told The Washington Post.
"When I picked her up and held her, I could see she wasn't doing well." Nick cuddled her, fed her lunch and found the only nearby veterinarian.
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The little puppy was homeless. Nick named her Puma, had her puncture wound treated, provided food for her and kept her near the base, under his care.
Nick told his mother and sister, that when his tour ended in March, he wanted to bring her home.
To do so, they found a Long Island nonprofit, Paws of War, that reunites those in the military, with the homeless dogs and cats they bond with overseas.
In Nick's case a local volunteer fostered Puma, because dogs cannot live in the barracks.
Paws of War paid for Puma to be vaccinated, her paperwork processed and then flown to Nick's American home. "It meant everything to me," said Nick.
As happened to Nick, some soldiers bond with a stray dog or cat, and deeply desire to bring them home.
Paws of War is currently working to bring home 18 dogs and three cats from Kosovo and doing the same work for Indiana National Guard members and their Kenyan stray dogs.
In the last 10 years, with donations, Paws of War has reunited approximately 600 loving pets with their soldiers, all in a labor of love.
Editor's Note:
To learn more washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/04/28/paws-of-war-reunite-pets/ and pawsofwar.org/
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