Paws of War asks for help in bringing retired military dog home

NESCONSET, N.Y. — When we think of military members, we tend to think of the many brave men and women that make up the deployed. What many don’t realize is that there are military dogs doing difficult and strenuous work in the military. One dog, Duke, has been given a medical retirement clearance in his old age, which has created an urgent mission to get him relocated back to the U.S. before the holiday.

“We appreciate all the hard work that WMD Duke did in our military and we are honored to help bring him back to the US,” Robert Misseri, co-founder of Paws of War, said in a news release. “We will need the help of the community to complete this mission, but we are confident people will want to give back to this military dog who gave so much.”

Duke was specially trained since being a puppy. His job in the U.S. military was dual-purpose: patrol and detector dog. He worked for seven years conducting important searches on vehicles, buildings, and patrol missions. He worked alongside service members in a variety of capacities in the Middle East. His work helped keep many service members safer and assist them with their mission.

Recently, Duke was showing signs of aging and slowing down, and began having difficulty walking and performing his usual work. He was no longer able to handle the strenuous tasks that he had done for years. And so he has been approved for a medical retirement.

Upon retirement, Duke faced an uncertain future, as none of his handlers was able to adopt him due to continuing deployments. Luckily, he had an angel looking out for him. An officer adopted Duke while she was serving overseas, shortly after her first retired working dog passed away from old age.

“Duke was always known as the crazy, one but in retirement he has completely changed. He loves snuggles and constantly getting pets,” the officer said. “Duke has transitioned so well into retired life, and I cannot wait to allow him to live his retirement in comfort and safety in the country he gave his entire life to protect.”

While she is still stationed overseas, the officer is scheduled to head back to the U.S. soon. A fellow Navy officer suggested Paws of War to her as a resource to help get Duke relocated to be with her. As soon as she reached out, a Paws of War team went to work on the logistics and the expense of getting Duke to his forever home in the U.S. The goal is to get Duke relocated as a holiday gift to the officer.

To get more information or make a donation to support the effort to relocate Duke, visit the site: https://pawsofwar.networkforgood.com/projects/147618-help-retired-mwd-duke.

Many service members stationed around the world rescue cats and dogs and become attached to them. The pets bring them peace and comfort and put smiles on their faces. Paws of War has made it its mission to help get those pets relocated back to America when the time arrives. It has helped many people to get their pets relocated following deployment.

There are rules and difficult logistics that must be followed in order to successfully relocate the animals, including medical expenses to ensure that they are healthy and the transportation expenses. The donations Paws of War receives from those in the community, no matter how small they may seem, all add up to help pull off successful missions for the soldiers.

Paws of War is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides assistance to military members and their pets, rescues and trains dogs to be service dogs, and provides therapy dogs to veterans.

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