In a country where human rights – let alone animal rights – are often ignored, life for millions of stray dogs and cats in Afghanistan can be cruel and short.
A group of Canadian soldiers spotted one such dog, still a puppy, in Kandahar province back in 2010.
“They were on Thor Road and they called him Thor,” said Canadian Forces medic Isabelle Allard.
Thor followed the soldiers back to base and quickly became a part of the military family, Allard said.
Allard said Thor helped keep hyenas and jackals away from the base, but he also fulfilled another duty.
But there was a problem with having Thor around.
The Canadian military prohibited stray animals, due to concerns about rabies and other diseases, and ordered all stray dogs be put down.
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“They gave us a deadline of two weeks or something,” Allard said.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God. They can’t do that,'” she said. “Everyone was so upset that we had to put the dogs down.”
With time running out, Allard’s only chance to save Thor laid with a United Kingdom-based charity called Nowzad Dogs.
Nowzad’s founder, Royal Marine Sgt. Pen Farthing, started the charity after figuring out a way to get his adopted stray out of Afghanistan.
Like Thor, it all began when Farthing and his fellow British troops came across a dog in need of help in the town of Now Zad, in Helmand province, in 2006.
Farthing saved the dog , now known as Nowzad, from a dog fight happening right outside the Royal Marines’ compound.
According to the story posted on Nowzad Dogs’ website, Farthing “couldn’t say no to those big sad eyes.”
“We realized there were probably other soldiers in the exact same position as I was,” Farthing told Global News in Sommerset, England.
Through its animal shelter in Kabul – the only one in Afghanistan – and the Happy Landings kennel in Somerset, the group helps dogs such as Thor to escape a life of vagrancy or being put to death.
In Thor’s case, Nowzad kept the dog for a couple of months while they raised the funds to get all of his vaccinations and paperwork sorted in order for him to enter Canada, Farthing explained.
Thor has settled in well in Canada, although he’s still getting used to the snow.
Nowzad has continues to help soldiers adopt the dogs and cats they’ve befriended during their tour of duty.
To date the group has successfully reunited more than 650 animals with their human companions in the U.K., Canada, United States, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.
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If you know of an Everyday Hero whose story we should tell, tell us by emailing viewers@globalnational.com.
With files from Nick Logan
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