A Shaggy Dog Story

The shaggy dog in question is Rocky, a Belgian Malinois. OK, shaggy may be a bit of an overstatement, but the rest of this story is the truth. Rocky was in Afghanistan, employed by the US Army as a land mine detection dog. His job was to locate IED’s before a soldier found one with a boot and his longevity speaks to his ability.

Unfortunately, Rocky developed glaucoma and suffered a detached retina in one eye. As a result, the Army “retired” him from the force. But there was a rub: military working dogs are considered equipment and, as such, do not enjoy a free ride back to the states when their service is complete. As a matter of fact, the military has the option of putting dogs down that fall into this category.

CDH International is a world-wide, self-funded charity (CDHInternational.org). Among it’s many efforts is bringing dogs like Rocky back home. This is anything but an easy chore due to endless red tape, bureaucratic “not-my-job” clerks, and other obstacles. Finding airlift outside of military craft usually entails large sums of money for chartering and “handling charges” (others might refer to this as extortion, bribery, and so on).

In this particular case, CDH reached out to the Puppy Rescue Mission (ThePuppyRescueMission.org), another charitable effort to reunite soldiers with the many strays they had adopted while serving in the war zones. Chandi (from CDH) and Michelle (from PRM) collaborated in getting Rocky to Los Angeles last week.

In the meantime, they had posted his photo on Facebook in the hopes of finding him a “forever home”. This posting was seen by Jason, a retired Sheriff’s deputy in Northern California. Jason was a canine officer and paired with another Malinois also named Rocky. In quick succession, Jason was involved in two events involving an armed suspect. One had a knife and the other a handgun. Rocky was instrumental in minimizing the harm to his handler, but Jason was medically retired after the shooting.

Rocky, on the other hand was still available for duty. Normally, when a canine retires his handler is able to purchase the dog for a dollar. In this case, Jason would have had to pony up $3500 and having just lost his job could not spare the funds. Needless to say, Jason quickly responded to the post and offered to adopt the “new” Rocky. 

Last Tuesday I received a call from Michelle. I am a volunteer pilot for Pilots n Paws (PilotsnPaws.org) and she found my bio on their website. Since I am in Northern California, too, she thought that I might be able to help in getting Rocky from LA to NorCal. Having a Malinois myself, I was all too happy to assist, but didn’t have the availability to go all the way to LA to pick him up. Mike, another Pilots n Paws volunteer pilot, offered to pick Rocky up and deliver him to San Luis Obispo, on the central California coast.. In the meantime, Jason would drive to my airport and we would fly down to San Luis to make the exchange.

So last Friday that is exactly what happened. Jason and I were waiting on the ramp at the San Luis Obispo Jet Center when Mike, his daughter, and Rocky arrived. The meet and greet was one of those “goose-bump” moments. The “new” Rocky was almost a twin to Jason’s ex-partner and I thought for sure that Jason would begin to cry when they met.

The flight back was conducted with Jason and Rocky occupying the back seats. You see, Rocky, as most others of his breed, is what we call high energy. That means they can get into mischief in a New York minute and the last thing I needed to explain to my airplane partner was the chewed up back seats. All went well, though, and we landed without any interior damage.

As I write this, Rocky is settling into his new home with Jason and his family. The end? Maybe, if we include the happily-ever-after part, but that’s not today’s point. You see, I’ve often been critical of the time wasted on social networking, but now I’m not so sure.

My story brought six principals together. Five folks and one dog that knew nothing of the others until cyberspace united them for one common cause. And now those lives have been forever changed. And that is nothing to sneeze at.

I guess that since the beginning of time there were those that under-appreciated the true value of the latest and greatest invention of the day. So why be surprised that the social network is no different? While many idly text and tweet while conjuring up only the simplest, most menial thoughts, others see the possibility of unfettered communication and use it to advance noble causes that otherwise would fall by the wayside. Take the Arab Spring, for instance. Or Rocky.

I’ve received some comments as of late regarding a recent post in which I lamented how people have evolved little over the past 500 years, or so. Maybe I was too hard on mankind. Maybe there is hope for a world where wealth is invested in causes far beyond personal gain and political differences give way to a common interest in making our world a better place. Rocky and his many advocates sure made a believer out of me.

(And should you be as outraged as I in learning of the fate in store for retired canine forces abroad, let your representatives know about it.)

The Kindness of Cyber-Strangers

Most of us, especially the more senior, are familiar with the phrase “the kindness of strangers”. Handed down through generations, stories center around a person in need and salvation being delivered from an unknown individual. Tennessee Williams wrote of it and the term can be found in film, music, and television. One could argue that, in this age of tweeting, texting, and other technologies used to connect our society, such kindness from strangers is a thing of the past. And you could count me among those arguing thusly.

Always one to admit a mistake, I’m here to tell a story that reaffirms the aged adage and adds a technological twist. Picture a military man, Ryan, in El Paso. He is single and has a dog named Seymour. Our GI finds himself assigned to another locale for a limited amount of time (TDY’d for those of you familiar with the military). Naturally, Seymour cannot accompany his master and is temporarily assigned to Ryan’s mother for daily care and feeding.

Shortly thereafter, mom faces a significant health issue and Seymour is re-assigned to a family living nearby. The family falls on hard times and relocates to the San Joaquin Valley community of Madera, California. After a period of time, Seymour shows up at the Madera animal shelter. He is dirty and has a rope around his neck, apparently chewed from whatever he was anchored to.

Seymour’s fate in the shelter would be questionable, but his master had implanted a chip that shelter personnel scanned. The chip information leads them back to El Paso and Ryan who has been trying to find his companion since returning from temporary duty. But how to find the funds required to get Seymour back home?

A Madera shelter volunteer, DJ, writes a story for the local paper seeking donations. That story is picked up by a nearby television station who posts their coverage online. Someone, somewhere sees the online video and forwards it to a lady, Kate, in Colorado Springs. Kate’s husband is separating from the Army and they are establishing a German Shepherd rescue for soldiers in need of therapy dogs. Now, Seymour is far from a German Shepherd (more of a scruffy, Benji-type if you will), but his Army affiliation catches Kate’s attention.

Kate’s pretty much geographically undesirable in offering direct assistance, but she posts a request for transport on the Pilots ‘n Paws website (pilotsnpaws.org). This request then goes out to member pilots in the appropriate areas and last Monday morning, as I ate my breakfast, I received the transport request in my email inbox. Such requests are an almost daily occurrence and many are not feasible, but this one was different on several levels.

First of all, I was planning to fly from my home in Calaveras County (California) to Wickenburg, Arizona the following day and a stop in Madera was but a small detour. Secondly, this particular mission was different in that it represented a reunion rather than the more common relocation. An email to Kate and a call to DJ in Madera resulted in a workable plan: I would take Seymour to Wickenburg where he would spend a few days with the Arizona Small Animal Rescue, a group based in Phoenix. Ryan would drive from El Paso to Phoenix on Saturday to pick him up and return to their home in Texas.

Delayed a day for aircraft maintenance, I picked Seymour up Wednesday morning from DJ in Madera and flew him to Arizona. Upon our arrival, we were met by Justin whose wife, Anji, heads up the Phoenix rescue. Ryan drove to Phoenix on Saturday morning, reunited with Seymour, and returned to El Paso. Mission complete!

Without the power of the internet, this story would be nothing more than a nice fairy tale told to tykes while tucking them in for the night. Fortunately, for Seymour and Ryan at least, the kindness of more than one stranger found a uniting force in cyberspace and collectively contributed to his safe return. Four people in three states with no prior introduction were able to collaborate, courtesy of the internet. Without that cyber- connection, the best of intentions would have been rendered moot. (And hats off to Ryan who had the foresight to chip his dog. Yet another technological contribution.) While much time and effort seems wasted while online surfing, Seymour’s adventure and eventual return to his owner serves as a shining example that a stranger’s kindness is not only still possible, but, courtesy of the world wide web, on an even wider scale than ever before.