Operation Baghdad Pups - February Update
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Author: Desiree Misanko-Louvat
Released 27 November 2009
February 2010 Update from Aramco Brat Desiree Misanko-Louvat
It's time to celebrate! Thanks to your support, Operation Baghdad Pups has successfully completed 48 missions as of January 2010. Last month alone we were able to bring 27 companion animals safely stateside to await the arrival of their soldier parents.
One of the latest missions brought Penny home to Arizona. Her success story speaks to the love between these animals and their military families, making Operation Baghdad Pups such a blessing. Penny was born in November 2007 on a U.S. military base outside Baghdad, Iraq, where she happily protected her military family. In October 2009 Penny was inexplicably shot, off base, but blessedly survived. Read Penny's Story.
In the coming months, Operation Baghdad Pups will be very busy getting companions out of Iraq. They have a short window, before the heat of summer stops all animal transports, and our troops leave Iraq. Your help is still needed to continue this amazing program. Click Here to Donate!
I also wanted to address some of your requests for information on helping our troops with their portion of the cost. One Unit desperately needs our help, by the end of February, to get their dogs on the March Operation Baghdad Pup list. It costs roughly $4,000 for each companion animal transport, and each soldier must raise $1,000 of their own money towards that cost. Click Here to Read This Unit's Story.
Here's to making a difference for our troops in 2010! Thank you so much for your continued support of Operation Baghdad Pups.
Desiree Misanko- Louvat
Dhahran Class of '90
Original Article
Aramco Brat Desiree Misanko-Louvat (Dhahran ’90 grad) alerted Aramco ExPats to a great cause that needs your help.
"I recently watched the 'No Dog Left Behind' special on the Military Channel and I was so incredibly touched by the soldiers' devotion to these animals that I immediately checked out the website for Operation Baghdad Pups," Desiree wrote in an email.
According to the website, while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military troops often befriend local animals as a way to help cope with the emotional hardships they endure every day while deployed in a war zone. Through SPCA International, the Operation Baghdad Pups program provides veterinary care, and coordinates complicated logistics and transportation requirements in order to reunite these beloved pets with their service men and women back in the United States. These important animals not only help our heroes cope in the combat zone, but they also help our troops come home mentally, as well as physically.
Without Operation Baghdad Pups, a majority of service members could not afford to bring their special companions home from the Middle East. Your donations will help us provide soldiers with travel crates, vaccinations, transportation for their animal to the Baghdad Airport and transport home.
"Time is running out!" Desiree wrote. "As our troops withdraw from Iraq, animals are getting left behind. The next Mission to Iraq is scheduled for the beginning of January, so the more money we can raise in December, the more animals can be brought out."
Please help! No donation is too small! Click Here to Donate!