Nonprofit Helps Reunite Veteran with Dog He Met Overseas

A veteran and his dog reunited recently thanks to a nonprofit group that helps service members bring home pets they meet overseas.

When a puppy wandered onto a United States military base in the Eastern European country of Georgia earlier this year, Marine Corporal Patrick Brady made her his own, according to Today.

“I just fell in love with her right away,” the 22-year-old said.

Brady fed, bathed, and vaccinated the dog he named Marshmallow and it was not long before he decided to try and take her back home with him to Long Island, New York.

However, the coronavirus pandemic complicated his plans to fly her to America.

“Brady contacted SPCA International, which helps American service members bring home pets they meet while serving anywhere in the world through the program Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide,” the Today article read.

The nonprofit group helped him navigate the process and at the end of his deployment in September, Marshmallow was cleared to travel.

But on the day of their flights, airport officials said the dog could not fly because her crate did not have plastic screws.

Brady called SPCA International program director Lori Kalef for help and she worked behind the scenes to get his beloved dog on the plane.

“I got a phone call from Lori saying, ‘She’s on the plane; she’s on the plane,'” he said, adding that the airport had approved using zip ties for Marshmallow’s crate instead.

“As uncharacteristic as it might sound, we both broke down and started to cry a little bit because it was so stressful,” Brady continued.

“After all these months of uncertainty and everything, finally just seeing her board the plane, I couldn’t explain the kind of feeling that I had. It was just the happiest feeling,” he noted.

Thanks to the nonprofit’s efforts, Brady and Marshmallow are enjoying life together in New York.

“It’s saving animals, and it’s also an honor for us to be able to do this for the people defending our country,” said the organization’s executive director Meredith Ayan.