October 16, 2008

The SPCA International plans to return to Iraq on Sunday for a military dog that was left behind on Wednesday. (Pet Pulse Photo by The Associated Press/SPCA)

NEW YORK -- It took the help of an international rescue team, U.S. Senators, Congressmen and almost 50,000 petitioners, but one military dog in Iraq will now likely find his way home to Minnesota.

But the pooch might have to wait until Sunday -- he missed his flight with five other rescued dogs yesterday after the military detained him until 30 minutes before the plane's departure.

The chance of a new life for Ratchet, a six-month-old mutt, first appeared in May, when U.S. Army Specialist Gwen Beberg rescued him from the streets in Iraq.

Their steadfast friendship met a hurdle, though, when the soldier was notified last month she had to change bases. She worried for her dog's well-being, as the military prohibits soldiers from housing stray animals.

Beberg put Ratchet on a convoy with other soldiers heading for an airport two weeks ago, but along the journey, a commanding officer ordered the dog to be confiscated, said Stephanie Scroggs, spokeswoman for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International.

The military has since been holding the dog in Iraq.

Thousands of people have gotten behind Ratchet's cause in the past few weeks, with petitions, letters and personal addresses to the military from Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Norm Coleman (R), as well as Congressman Keith Ellison (D).

Uncertain and weary over Ratchet's future, the SPCA International dispatched Terri Crisp, Operation Baghdad Pups' program manager, into Iraq for an emergency rescue on Wednesday.

"SPCA International is taking this drastic step with the hope that congressional appeals and extensive public outrage around the confiscation of Sgt. Gwen Beberg's dog, Ratchet, will move the military to release Ratchet into SPCA International custody on Wednesday, Oct. 15," the SPCA's Tuesday statement said.

The military gave Ratchet clearance to leave Iraq yesterday, only a half-hour before Crisp was set to board a U.S-bound plane with Crisp and the other rescue dogs.

The SPCA is planning another rescue effort for Sunday.

"SPCA International and congressional officials pursued every measure at their disposal, but the military was too slow to act," an SPCA statement, released yesterday, said. "Ratchet's fate hangs by a thin thread of hope that he will be kept long enough for SPCA International's Operation Baghdad Pups team to return."

Operation Baghdad Pups helps rehabilitate and transport Iraqi dogs and cats, befriended by army troops, to the U.S. The September, 2007-launched project has relocated more than 50 Iraq soldiers' dogs and six cats to their families' homes across the U.S.

The Army's unprecedented seizure of Ratchet was made "without any apparent reason," Scroggs said.

According to the U.S. Army's General Order 1A, service members are prohibited from "adopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal," according to The Pioneer Press.

Reasons behind this rule range from health concerns to possible conflict with local residents.

Officers in Iraq have often looked the other way, though, and permitted soldiers to unofficially adopt stray dogs and cats, Scroggs said.

Scroggs says the SPCA International has never witnessed a case in which an informally adopted military dog or cat has been confiscated.

She has though, heard of officers killing pets with "a gunshot wound to the head" or letting them loose on the streets, serving as an unofficial "death sentence" for the domesticated pets.

"Sometimes superior officers won't look the other way anymore," she said. "They don't believe the animals have enough impact on the soldiers' lives and morale and don't see what they give to these soldiers."

Ratchet has provided a crucial support system for Gwen, the specialist's mother, Pat Beberg, of Spring Lake Park, Minn., says.

"That dog means the world to her. Absolutely the world. She is extremely attached to him and he has kept her going through all of this," she said. "To me, it is a much healthier way of handling a stressful situation to have a pet, than popping a handful of pills, or worse."

"There is no word for such devastation. She was stressed from the beginning and on top of all of it this happens. How much stress can one person take?"

Beberg deployed to Iraq in September 2007. She was initially slated to stay on board for only 12 months, but that time-frame was later expanded to 15 months. She is expected to be discharged sometime in November.

Hopefully when she lands in the U.S., Ratchet will be there to greet her, Pat Beberg said.

She says her husband has been helping prepare for the dog by repairing a gate in their fenced-in backyard. Beberg hopes the haggled dog will soon get the chance to finally rest in his new home.

"Right now, it just needs to be a little quiet in our house," she said. "It's been through an awful lot for a little pup that is only six-months-old. We just need to let the little guy just settle in and get accustomed to his new surroundings."

Aside from this ongoing situation, Operation Baghdad Pups also made news recently when the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention released a belated Oct.3 report on a rescued dog that arrived in the U.S. in June.

It was later diagnosed with rabies and euthanized, as Pet Pulse previously reported.

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The Associated Press and The Pioneer Press contributed to this article.