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Health & Fitness

Come out for Battle Buddy Bowling and help our troops bring home their dogs and cats from war

Help our troops get the dogs and cats they love home from war by participating in an afternoon of Battle Buddy Bowling on August 18 at Fox Bowl in Wheaton. The event will raise money for The Puppy Rescue Mission, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that helps US troops bring home dogs and cats they adopt while serving overseas. These animals are true “battle buddies” who are bonded to their military service members and provide physical protection and emotional comfort in a war zone.

Over the past three years, The Puppy Rescue Mission has brought home more than 400 dogs and about 25 cats for men and women of our military stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Africa, and other posts across the globe. Every rescue begins when a military service member writes to ask for help getting a loyal animal companion home from war.

Their stories are surprisingly similar. In the harsh environments where our troops serve, animals are typically treated cruelly. Kind-hearted American troops rescue dogs and cats from garbage pits, dog fights, and physical abuse. Units of Navy SEALS or Marines take turns nursing an injured puppy or kitten back to health. The animals return their troops’ devotion and bring love and laughter to otherwise bleak surroundings. “After returning from long missions, it was the best feeling in the world knowing I could come back to my compound and have Leonidas waiting for me,” wrote Army Sergeant Tim Johannsen about the puppy he adopted while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. Thanks to The Puppy Rescue Mission, Johannsen was able to send Leonidas to live with his wife Kaydee and her family in Downers Grove while he finished his combat tour. They were reunited in 2012 and now live in Hawaii where Johannsen is currently stationed.

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Another soldier, PFC Steven LeMaire, was grieving the combat death of a close friend when he saved a puppy he named Charlie from being shot by Afghan police. Saving Charlie helped Steven refocus his emotions and get back to his job, says his father Frank LeMaire, who is also an Army veteran. Charlie arrived home in October 2012 and lives on the LeMaire family farm in Nashua, Iowa, while Steven, also home from Afghanistan, trains to become an Army Ranger at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.

The Puppy Rescue Mission was founded in April 2010 by Anna Cannan after her fiancé, Army Sergeant Christopher Chiasson, deployed to Afghanistan and told Cannan the story of three local dogs that had befriended soldiers at his combat outpost and instinctively protected them from a suicide bomber. The three dogs attacked the bomber, who had tried to infiltrate the camp during the night, saving all 50 troops at the camp. Although one of these loyal dogs was killed in the blast, another dog later gave birth to puppies, which the soldiers quickly adopted as their own. When Chiasson asked Cannan to help him bring his beloved puppy home to Maine, Cannan soon found herself scrambling to help six other soldiers bring their own dogs home too.

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Cannan began fundraising with raffles, yard sales, and a Facebook page to raise the approximately $21,000 she needed to get the first seven dogs transported to USA. Today, The Puppy Rescue Mission has grown into a nationwide network of thousands of supporters linked by social media and commitment to the group’s mission.

The Puppy Rescue Mission receives ongoing requests from deployed service members who don’t want to abandon their loyal battle buddy when they return home from war. Currently, about 12 dogs are awaiting funds to start their trip home. Rescue costs vary depending on an animal’s size, but each dog costs roughly $4,500 to cover veterinary care and transportation from the field to an Afghan or Kuwaiti shelter and then home to USA. Supporters can learn more about the group’s work at www.thepuppyrescuemission.org and follow daily rescue updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/puppyrescuemission 

Battle Buddy Bowling will be held from 2 to 5 pm on Sunday, August 18, at Fox Bowl, 1101 Butterfield Road, Wheaton, Illinois. Donation is $25 for adults and $15 for children aged 12 and younger and includes two or three “no-tap” games, shoes, pizza and soda, and a raffle ticket. Fun raffle prizes include a Chicago Blackhawks bag-toss game board and a custom Puppy Rescue Mission bowling ball. For information about the event or to reserve a lane, call Lydia at 773-625-0798 or email PRMFundraising63@gmail.com.

 

 

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