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Watch a Former Soldier Reunite with His K-9 Partner After 3 Years

There’s nothing quite like a reunion between two war heroes after years apart — especially when one of them has two legs and the other has four.

Last week, two of these heart-warming events occurred between former U.S. Army specialists and their bomb-sniffing dogs. The two dogs, along with nine others in the Tactical Explosive Detection Dog (TEDD) program, had been bought by a private company and then left to languish at a boarding kennel for 17 months. Thanks to the efforts of Mission K9 Rescue and the United States War Dogs Association, nonprofit organizations dedicated to finding homes for retired military dogs, photos of the dogs posted on social media successfully helped track down their former handlers.

On Wednesday, after a four-year separation, Tyler Roberts was reunited with his former partner, Donna, a Belgian Malinois, in Thorton, Colo. Roberts is now Donna’s official dog dad, and he said her only assignment from now on is to chase tennis balls.

The next day in Boise, Idaho, Vance McFarland was reunited with his former partner, Ikar, a Czech Shepherd, after three years apart.

“Some times were good, some times were stressful. Having Ikar definitely made it a lot better,” McFarland told KTVB regarding their two-year-long tour of duty together in Afghanistan. “Having a dog with you on deployment is almost like having a little bit of home. Other soldiers were jealous — they always wanted to come up and pet Ikar. We made the best of it.”

McFarland, who’s now a full-time college student, was eager to have Ikar join his wife and two other dogs.

Ikar took a trip to the lake over the weekend, and that’s just the beginning. “He is going to live the rest of his retired life spoiled. Really spoiled,” McFarland told KTVB.

As McFarland waited for Ikar’s plane to land in Boise Thursday, he was concerned that his former partner wouldn’t remember him after so much time had passed.

As you can see from the video, McFarland had nothing to worry about.

Photo via YouTube

Sheep Dogs Guard Fawn’s Body after Idaho Wildfire

Some of the worst wildfires in U.S. history have swept across western states this week, burning about 7.2 million acres. Among the victims were, tragically, three firefighters in Washington state. The fires have also undoubtedly killed scores of wildlife.

One of those four-legged victims was a fawn in Kamiah, Idaho, who probably had nowhere to run when a fast-moving wildfire roared through the town, destroying more than 40 homes.

Louis Armstrong found the fawn while checking his property after the fire.

“This one got me in the feels,” he said, according to Big Country News Connection. “Lots of destruction and sadness in the Kamiah area. I found this dead fawn Monday morning. An hour later this sheep dog and her two pups are here protecting it.”

A picture he took of the fawn and her three guards has gone viral.

“They have been here for hours and won’t leave,” Armstrong said. “Barking at people that come near (although they are very nice).”

The three dogs remained there, protecting the lifeless fawn from predators, until the sun set more than 13 hours later.

This one got me in the feels, too.

Photo via Facebook

Four Years Later, Soldier Reunited with Abandoned Bomb-Sniffing Dog

Four years ago, U.S. Army Specialist Tyler Roberts and his partner, a 2-year-old bomb-sniffing Belgian Malinois named Donna, were deployed to Afghanistan.

“She was excellent. You could unclip her from the leash and she could find something a mile away,” Roberts told FOX31. The team found hundreds of pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Roberts and Donna formed a bond that Roberts didn’t want to end with their tour of duty.

But after her tour with Roberts ended in September 2011, Donna and 11 other dogs in the Tactical Explosive Detection Dog (TEDD) program were bought by a private company.

Roberts, who retired from the Army in 2013, did what he could to find his former partner.

“I tried to follow her career so that I could adopt her after she retired, but I could never get a straight answer as to her whereabouts,” he told USA TODAY.

In early 2014, the unidentified company that had bought the TEDDs left them at Mt. Hope Kennels in Chester, Va. The company told the kennel’s owner, Greg Meredith, the dogs would only be staying there a couple of months at the most.

Seventeen months later, Donna and the other TEDDs were still languishing in the kennel. Meredith paid about $150,000 out of his own pocket for their care. He couldn’t try to find homes for the dogs because they were considered government property.

Two months ago, the company contacted Meredith and told him it no longer wanted the TEDDs because they were now too old. The company told Meredith to dispose of the dogs as he saw fit.

“They’ve been abandoned. This is not the life that they deserve, nor is it how this country should take care of its soldiers,” Meredith told NBC12 last month.

He contacted two nonprofit organizations, Mission K9 Rescue and the United States War Dogs Association, which are partnered with the kennel and dedicated to finding homes for retired military dogs. If the organizations couldn’t track down the TEDDs’ former handlers, they would find them forever homes with other families.

“Our goal is to reunite all of the handlers and soldiers with their war dogs. We love to make that happen for them,” Kristen Maurer, president of Mission K9 Rescue, told USA TODAY.

Her organization met its goal with Roberts and Donna. Yesterday the two were happily reunited in a Thorton, Colo., park.

“I owe her my life and I intend to spoil her for the remainder of hers,” Roberts told USA TODAY.

He told FOX31 Donna has accepted a brand-new mission: chasing tennis balls.

Mission K9 Rescue has received hundreds of adoption applications for the other 11 TEDDs abandoned at the kennel. For information about adopting retired military dogs, visit the Mission K9 Rescue website.

Mission K9 Rescue has created the “Mt. Hope K9 Warrior Rescue” account on GoFundMe.com to raise money to reimburse Meredith for his generosity and help keep his kennel in business. To make a donation, click here.

Photo via Twitter

Over 17,600 Pets Find Forever Homes on Clear the Shelters Day

AUG. 22, 2015 UPDATE: The total number of pets adopted on Clear the Shelters Day has risen to 19,132!

As of Saturday evening, 17,648 homeless pets have been adopted on the first-ever Clear the Shelters Day.

More than 300 shelters in about a dozen states participated in the event, which was organized in partnership with NBC-owned television stations and the Telemundo station group.

The goal, as the name implies, was to get as many pets adopted as possible. Some shelters, including those in the Chicago area, completely waived adoption fees, while others reduced the fees and/or reduced or waived spay and neuter fees.

Throughout Clear the Shelters Day on Saturday, shelters, reporters and new pet parents posted pictures of adopted pets on social media using the #ClearTheShelters hashtag.

Here are just a few of the many heartwarming posts on Twitter. (Tissue alert!)

 

 

 

The special, “Clear the Shelters,” hosted by Natalie Morales and featuring celebrities Cecily Strong, Sherri Shepard, Bellamy Young and Denise Richard, will air on NBC stations beginning Aug. 22. It will feature shelter pets meeting their new families and take a look at how social media is changing animal adoption.

Photo via Twitter

Military Family Finally Reunited with ‘Dead’ Dog Zeus

Three years after the Harworth family was told Zeus, their Chow Chow/German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, had died, the military family has been reunited with their beloved — and very much alive — dog.

When Ben Harworth was reassigned from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to a U.S. military base in South Korea in 2012, the family left Zeus with a family friend who lived nearby.

A few months later, the Harworths were heartbroken when, for some still-unknown reason, the friend told them Zeus had died.

Fast forward three years. Last month Laura Williams of Durham, N.C., spotted a scrawny Rottweiler mix wandering along a road.

“He was looking all lethargic and out of it, and not really too well,” Williams told WNCN July 16. “He let me put a collar and a leash on him, and he jumped into my car.”

She took him to the Banfield Pet Hospital in Raleigh, where it was discovered the dog had a microchip. His name was — wait for it — Zeus! And his owners were… the Harworths!

Williams was able to track down and phone the Harworths, who are now living in Washington state. It was a strange call, to say the least.

“When I said, ‘We found your dog, Zeus’ – because he was listed as lost — they said their dog was dead,” Williams told WNCN.

“We all got chills. The girl from the vet got chills. I got goosebumps, and I almost started crying because for the past three years, they thought their dog was dead.”

WNCN reporter Sean Maroney arranged a Skype reunion for Zeus and the Harworths. The dog’s tail wagged nonstop as Melody and her two teenage sons cried, “Zeusy! Hi, Zeusy!”

But it would still be a while before Zeus could be reunited with his family in person. He had heartworm and couldn’t fly on a plane. His pet parents had other obligations and were unable to drive across the country to get him.

Rachel Overby, practice manager of the Banfield Pet Hospital — which covered the cost of Zeus’s heartworm treatment — volunteered to take him home.

“Yeah, it’s kind of like a movie plot,” she told WNCN earlier this week. “I’m just excited to be getting him home, I know if it was my baby, I’d want somebody to bring him back to me.”

As Overby drove Zeus more than 2,850 miles from Raleigh to Seattle, she posted updates on Instagram and Facebook, with the hashtag #GetZeusHome.

They reached their destination yesterday. The entire Harworth family (and probably a few reporters) got teary-eyed when the dog they’d thought was long dead emerged from the van, very much alive.

“I’m just completely blown away and amazed at how this this is going and how many people were just willing to turn and help a dog they don’t know and a family they don’t know anything about,” Ben told reporters, according to The News Tribune.

The happy family — all five of them — left to go home, where Zeus will meet another family member: a Chihuahua named Bear.

“Forget #GetZeusHome … we #GotZeusHome!” WNCN’s Maroney tweeted yesterday.

Incidentally, today happens to be National Check the Chip Day. This story should serve as an important reminder to make sure the contact information on your dog’s microchip is up to date.


Photos via Twitter; Twitter

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