Archives: Press

From The Dispatch (http://www.the-dispatch.com/)

By Sharon Myers
Published: Monday, June 15, 2015 at 12:30 a.m.

When Sgt. Shane Strange of Lexington was serving with the U.S. National Guard he met a young female who would become an important part of his life. Fortunately for him (and his wife) she was a German shepherd named Julia who had been assigned to his unit.

Strange is a graduate of North Davidson High School who signed up for the National Guard several months before he graduated. A year later he was assigned to Egypt’s Northern Sinai Peninsula, a gateway into the Gaza Strip. He was a member of a quick reaction force whose job was to provide personal security detail, convoy security, route recon and any other potential security issues. Julia was assigned to the unit as a visual deterrent and to alert the soldiers of the unknown.

“We took her everywhere we went,” Strange said. “Her presence would keep people from walking up on us. At night she would see things we couldn’t see and would bark. If my team wasn’t on shift, she would go with the other team, but a majority of the time she slept on my bed.”

Strange was Julia’s first handler, and he developed a deep bond with her during the nine months he served in Egypt. When his tour was nearing completion, he said he was heartbroken when he was told that he could not adopt Julia and bring her home. Strange continued to think about bringing Julia to the United States until a friend who was redeployed to Kuwait met a staff sergeant who informed him the Army was letting servicemen adopt some of these dogs.

“He sent me a message and asked if I was still interested in adopting Julia, and I said ‘of course,'” Strange said. “The veterinarian who was over Julia’s care did a background check to see if we were a good home. Then I got in touch with the SPCA organization Operation Baghdad Pups.”

Operation Baghdad Pups is a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals program founded in 2008 to rescue and reunite these pets with service members in the U.S. Organizers have rescued over 550 animals from multiple countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and have expanded to become “OBP: Worldwide” and rescue animals anywhere in the world for members of all military branches.

“We received Sgt. Strange’s request, and hearing he made Julia a promise when he left (the) country that if there was ever a way for him to get her back that he would do it moved us deeply,” said SPCA International Executive Director Meredith Ayan in a written statement. “He said he would not allow her to live out the rest of her days in the desert, and we were thrilled to help this family reunite. We understand the bond people make with animals, and being able to help our military servicemen and women rescue and reunite with the ones that helped them through difficult times is one of the most important things we do.”

Strange said Operation Baghdad Pups representatives arranged for him to travel back to Egypt to bring Julia home June 3. He said it was a wonderful reunion thanks to a wonderful organization.

“I can’t stress enough how incredible Baghdad Pups was,” Strange said. “They arranged everything and even paid for my plane ticket. Words can’t express how grateful I am. … When I went to pick her up, I met them at the gym on base. As they were walking up I called her name, and her ears perked up. When they let her go she kind of looked at me sideways like she was sizing me up, but then she trotted up and gave me a lick on the face.”

Strange said Julia is adjusting to living in the States. He said she still has some reactionary issues, such as seeing someone with a grass trimmer in his hands as a threat, but he said she has enjoyed discovering grass. Strange said he plans on volunteering with Operation Baghdad Pups in the future because it is important to remember four-legged veterans.

“As a nation we tend to forget that we still have animals that are in the military who are working every day,” Strange said. “She is still a soldier, but her mission now is just to be my best friend. It is my turn to look out for her.”‘

From CBS2, Greensboro, NC (http://www.wfmynews2.com/)

LEXINGTON, N.C. — There’s nothing like the bond between man and his best friend.

While Sergeant Shane Strange of Lexington was serving with the U.S. Army National Guard, he said he met Julia, a German Shepherd. He said he was her first handler in 2012 and developed a bond with her that he never had with any other animal.

Strange says Julia ate, slept, played, trained, and comforted the soldiers each day while they were serving as part of the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. He says Julia never once left his side.

Strange attempted to adopt Julia, but told WFMY News 2 his attempts were blocked by his chain of command each time. Recently, he said he was informed that there might be a possibility he could adopt her as the need for her in Egypt had somewhat changed.

He got his wish and was reunited with Julia last weekend.

The reunion was made possible through SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups. The program was founded in 2008 to rescue and reunite patriot pets with service members in the U.S. The organization says it has rescued over 550 animals from multiple countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

To learn more about Operation Baghdad Pups, click here.

From Fox 8, Greensboro, NC (http://myfox8.com)

LEXINGTON, N.C. — After almost two years and being thousands of miles apart, Sgt. Shane Strange has been reunited with a military dog he says was with him on some of his darkest days.

Strange adopted Julia, a German shepherd, from a U.S. Army base in Egypt earlier this year.

Strange says he spent every day of his nine-month tour in Egypt with the dog while serving in the National Guard.

Through the program Operation Baghdad Pups, SPCA International helps rescue and reunite patriot pets with service members.

Since 2008, the program has rescued more than 550 animals from countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

The animals are reunited with members of all military branches.

For Immediate Release:

March against cruelty to Spanish Greyhounds in Spain

SOS Galgos, together with Libera, SPCA International, French charity C.R.E.L. and Madrid-based charity Galgos sin Fronteras, will come together in Barcelona on Saturday June 13th, to protest against the cruelty inflicted upon thousands of Spanish Greyhounds (a.k.a. galgo) every year when the hunting season comes to an end.

BARCELONA, SPAIN, June 5th  - For the fourth consecutive year, under the motto of 'I am their voice', the charity SOS Galgos (www.sosgalgos.com) has called for a demonstration on June 13th in Barcelona, to denounce the cruel treatment this breed suffers at the end of the hunting season. 

Along with SOS Galgos, several national and international charities such as Liberia, SPCA International (www.spcai.org), CREL and Galgos sin Fronteras will be joining in the protest. The march will set off from the Sancho of Avila funeral parlor to the main government office of Barcelona.

The route between these two points is symbolic of the agony that galgos endure and the outcry will be made by charities, adopters and animal advocates, demanding that the authorities take measures to put an end to this situation once and for all. SPCA International has collected over 70,000 signatures urging the Spanish government to take action.

Tens of thousands of Spanish Greyhounds are estimated to be abandoned and killed by hunters every year in Spain, making the galgo the most cruelly treated breed in the country. They are literally used as 'disposable tools' and then abandoned in vast numbers, mainly in February, which is when the hare coursing hunting season ends. This occurs mostly in the Andalucía, Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and Castilla-Leon areas of Spain. The so-called 'galgueros' (hunters that practice hare-coursing with galgos) get rid of their galgos in the cruellest of ways: they are thrown down wells, burnt alive or hanged from trees in so-called 'death forests'. Thousands are also systematically put down in municipal dog pounds, which are always overwhelmed by the constant intake of galgos. It is common practice for 'galguero' owners to 'dump' their galgos at the pounds when no longer useful, a practice the authorities and most of society turn a blind eye to, mainly due to a lack of public awareness about the situation.

This extreme cruelty to galgos has been reported to the authorities many times and the charities involved in the march have repeatedly addressed the situations with government, offering proposals for specific measures to be enforced, but these proposals have remained in a state of 'limbo' without any kind of consideration on behalf of the government.

SOS Galgos (www.sosgalgos.com) was one of the first charities to be established in Spain to rescue and protect the galgo. Its main objectives are to rescue and rehome this gentle breed and work at legislative and educational level.

March in Barcelona: Saturday June 13th at 12 noon.

Meeting point: Tanatorio Sancho de Ávila, 20).

Itinerary: Av. Meridiana to calle Padilla, through the avenida Diagonal to calle Mallorca, 278.

More information on the Barcelona 2015 Demonstration can be found here:

SOS Galgos

www.sosgalgos.com

For North American inquiries, please use our Contact Us form.

From WKRC Cincinnati Local 12: LOS ANGELES, Cali. (WKRC) — When a US Marine served in Afghanistan, he put his life on the line to save others on a daily basis.

And while he had to be tough on the front lines, he also found a soft spot in his heart for man’s best friend.

Sergeant Jacob Fisher was on his third tour to the Middle East, when a puppy found its way onto his base.

He knew he couldn’t leave the pup to fend for himself, so he had to save one more life before going home.

Sergeant Fisher, and Jax, became very close, but Fisher’s seven-month deployment ended, and he headed back stateside, without Jax.

However, three months later, he had another opportunity to save Jax’s life, by giving him a forever home.

Pawsitive Channel and the SPCA’s international’s program Opreration Baghdad Pups: Worldwide teamed up to bring the two together.

They had cameras rolling as Jax and Fisher were finally reunited at LAX last month.

Read More at: http://www.local12.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Marine-reunited-with-puppy-he-saved-on-tour-140948.shtml

From Dogster: http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/vid-we-love-marine-brings-home-dog-afghanistan

Sgt. Jacob Fisher has been with the Marine Corps for 11 years, and he recently returned from his third tour to the Middle East — a seven-month deployment. But he wasn’t coming home alone.

Jax was on his way as well, a dog who lived on the base and befriended the soldiers. Fisher had saved Jax when he was a puppy, and Fisher wasn’t going to risk having the dog returned to the dangerous streets of Bagram, Afghanistan, after he returned to the U.S.

As he says in the video created by PAWsitive, he was doing a tower check one day and a dog showed up in one of the wild animal traps on the base. Fisher called him a “small little bitty baby puppy.” How small? Look at this:

He decided to call the puppy Jax — an excellent name — and proceeded to take care of the little dog. He says in the video that Jax looked “kinda miserable” when they found him, and he was shaking a lot. Almost immediately, Fisher knew he was going to be taking the puppy home with him.

“I knew what is was like out there,” he says. “They would shoot rockets at the base. Every day it was a new experience; the rockets fell everywhere and it was always dangerous.”

To get Jax home, Fisher worked with SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide. To date, the group has reunited 550 animals with service members who cared for them during their deployments.

“Going to Afghanistan I didn’t even realize I would see a dog on the base, let alone fall in love with a dog and want to bring him home,” says Fisher.

“He made me really happy,” Fisher says. “I was kinda down, thinking about my son, missing him so much, and Jax came along, and lifted everyone’s spirits.”

Eventually, Fisher got his wish. Jax would be going home with him — but it would take time. But last week, two and a half months after Fisher made it back, he finally he welcomed a timid, scared Jax on American soil, where the two old friends took time to bond again.

“I got my buddy back,” says Fisher.

Watch the whole video by PAWsitive:

“Jax has done so much for me,” Fisher says. “Mentally, physically, in more ways that anyone can imagine.”

Originally published by Untold Animal Stories.

In the south of Spain, there is a form of hunting hares where the hunters use Spanish Greyhounds, or Galgos in Spanish, as weapons to find their prey. This form of hunting is forbidden in each of the European Union countries through their domestic animal protection laws, but unfortunately Spain still lacks these regulations.

Roy is one of the lucky ones. With your signature on the international petition (http://bit.ly/1egDtIr), we can make a difference and change the lives of many more greyhounds than only Roy and a handful of others.

Tens of thousands of Spanish Greyhounds have the misfortune to be born into the wrong hands of these hunters each year. These noble animals are used strictly as tools during the hunting season, which begins in the early fall and ends in February. They are then discarded in the most barbaric manner, which many hunters believe will bring prosperity for the following season’s hunt. The dogs are often beaten, burned, buried alive, doused with acid, thrown into wells, or tortured in other ways. Some die slowly by a method the hunters refer to as ‘the pianist’ method—tying the neck of the dog to a tree and allowing the back feet to barely touch the ground. The dogs move and jump for days struggling to stay alive, their front paws swaying back and forth resembling the playing of a piano. It is estimated that 60,000 Spanish Greyhounds are killed each year.

During the training season, Spanish Greyhounds are forced to run for hours and miles in the hot sun, their leashes tied to moving trucks. They are kept with the most minimal amount of shelter, food, and hygiene to survive. Many hunters believe starving their hunting dogs keeps them hungry for the hunt and more effective.

Behind every Greyhound’s life in Spain, there is a story of cruelty. When Roy was found on a roadside, he was barely alive. His lifeless body, covered in scars and lacerations.Roy had given up, his eyes remained closed, his body limp as his rescuers examined him. His rescuers brought him to SPCA International’s partner shelter in Spain, SOS Galgos, where he received emergency life-saving treatment and care.

Roy’s history is not uncommon, and he was fortunate to be found when he was. Thanks to organizations like SOS Galgos, a non-profit organization fighting to defend the rights of Spanish Greyhounds like Roy, and SPCA International, the plight of the Greyhounds of Spain will one day improve.

SPCA International– https://www.spcai.org/ — and SOS Galgos — http://sosgalgos.com/?lang=en –are working to improve animal welfare legislation and promote education and awareness sensitizing people to the warm and gentle nature of the Spanish Greyhound. This past March marked a memorable time in history for the Spanish Greyhounds. SPCA International and SOS Galgos, along with other animal protection organizations in Europe, met with the Spanish Congress of Deputies in Madrid to lobby on behalf of all the voiceless Greyhounds. Two hours were dedicated to the welfare of the hunting dogs in Spain in hopes of one day passing laws forbidding this torture.

Please help support the fight to eradicate this appalling tradition by signing SPCA International’s petition. http://spcai.org/help-us-stop-the-horrific-torture-of-greyhounds-galgos-in-spain.html Together we can create change!

Vozpopuli.com (Public Voice – the value of being free and reliable)

by Laura Díez

Spanish Post: http://vozpopuli.com/actualidad/40275-se-podria-prohibir-la-caza-con-galgos-en-espana-protectoras-y-diputados-lo-llevan-al-congreso?

(Imperfect translation by Google Translate) Hunting with hounds in Spain is one of those controversial topics that proponents and critics cross reproaches and mutual accusations to steady your posture. The galgueros called defending their love for dogs as the main argument and always come to the “we are not all equal.” Meanwhile the animal protection associations and greyhounds especially refer to abuse suffered by this race, always associated with the instrumentation that make them hunters. A large number of them have developed a series of proposals by the Parliamentary Association in Defense of the Rights of Animals (APDDA) lead the Congress with a long- term ban hunting with hounds.

On this occasion , about a hundred people gathered Wednesday in the House of Representatives in a paper under the name ” Greyhounds : Spain to the world ,” on the first thing they remembered is that Spain is the only country in EU still allowing hunting with hounds , while countries such as Germany (1952 ), Belgium ( 1995 ), Scotland ( 2002) and the UK ( 2004) and have been banning . Coordinated by the deputy of the Aragonese Chesús Yuste , the act intended as a starting point to articulate a series of proposals that result in legislative initiatives to limit this practice on animals.

“More than 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned, hanged or thrown into wells in February, ending the month at hunting,” says the founder of SOS Galgos veterinarian

To do this, different associations as SOS Galgos, Greyhounds without borders or Baas Galgo, in collaboration with other international and the Franz Weber Foundation (Switzerland) , French Club CREL or the American SPCA International- Global Animal Rescue , have joined forces with about 40 deputies and senators of all political forces APDDA – forming , with Pacma own and even an agent of the Municipal Police and forest officials to prevent the abuse which they say brings everything around to this tradition.

Figures abuse

Deputy Joan Josep Nuet ( Plural Left ) and asked at the time the Government ‘s approach to address this complicated situation Greyhound in Spain , since according to unofficial figures used protective , over 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned , hanged or thrown into a pit in February, the month in which the hunting season ends . “Just this past February have appeared 167 greyhounds hanged. Currently have data on some 190,000 federal galgueros with 500,000 registered greyhounds to hunt, but we believe that we currently around 900,000 hands galgueros greyhound . Figures are very different depending whom the offer because there is no official data. in 2013, Seprona , 53 greyhounds were abandoned , but a survey of the Affinity Foundation 12 protective speaks of 2,600 , of which also only 25% of those arriving are identified “explains Albert Sorde , veterinarian and founder of SOS Galgos.

Protective associations of various countries have Galgos SOS initiative to promote a legislative initiative to eradicate the indiscriminate breeding, abuse and neglect of greyhounds in Spain.