Port Jeff Groups Help Bring A Soldier’s Dog Home From Afghanistan

Answering a plea for help from the family member of a soldier returning from Afghanistan, animal rescue groups from Port Jefferson have arranged for a dog to be brought to the United States and reunited with his adopted owner.

While serving overseas in the U.S. Army, two soldiers, Jeff and Matthew (their last names have been purposely withheld), rescued two stray dogs from the streets of Afghanistan. After bringing the dogs back to camp, they promptly named the pooches Trigger and Savannah and gave them care and love, the dogs returning the favor.

Jeff kept Savannah for his own while Matthew adopted Trigger.

One night while Jeff was out on a detail, Savannah wandered too far outside of camp and was captured by a local militia group who savagely mutilated and then killed her.

Back in December, 2011, Jeff’s cousin had contacted a Long Island-based animal rescue group called Guardians of Rescue to help her bring Savannah home when Jeff and Matthew’s unit returned to the U.S. in February. That was before Savannah was killed. The family and Guardians of Rescue then turned their efforts toward rescuing Matthew’s dog, Trigger.

According to Meredith Festa, who works at the Chase Bank on Main Street in Port Jefferson and is a member of Guardians of Rescue, Jeff’s cousin called them because of their history helping soldiers bring the dogs they adopt in Afghanistan home to them.

“We’ve done this three or four times before,” said Festa. In one particularly sad case, a solder’s dog by the name of Target that the Guardians of Rescue had brought home was accidentally euthanized by an animal shelter in Arizona.

Guardians of Rescue and an amalgam of rescue organizations along with Jeff’s family raised thousands of dollars to reunite Trigger with Matthew. Nowzad, a British group in Afghanistan, provided a place for Trigger’s mandatory 30-day quarantine before he was able to enter the U.S.

Guardians of Rescue helps bring the dogs to the soldiers because they recognize the benefit that adopted animals provide to those who serve overseas.

“These four-legged angels provide comfort in the absence of home,” the group said in a statement. “We were determined to make sure Trigger was saved.”

Thursday morning, Trigger will arrive at J.F.K. Airport. Festa will be there to meet him. Despite a journey of thousands of miles and the love and compassion of hundreds of people, Trigger will still have to wait a little longer before going home to Matthew at Fort Lewis in Washington state where he’s stationed.

“When the dogs get here they’re traumatized,” said Festa “He’s used to running around on his own.”

Life on an army base in the middle of an Afghan desert is very different from life in the structure of a base here in the U.S., where soldiers live in houses, not tents.

Marianne Carrano, owner of Hounds Town USA in Port Jefferson Station, takes in rescue dogs and helps get them acclimated to a life living around people again, some who have been severely abused. She’s donated her time to help Trigger decompress and live in a normal home environment.

“We want to do some training to see where he’s at,” Carrano said. “These dogs live amongst the soldiers and we don’t know if he likes other dogs.”

She said that she’s not sure how Trigger will be once she starts working with him. She’ll put him through the usual paces. One technique even involves dressing the dogs up in hats to see how they respond to hands-on care.

“Half of me thinks this is going to be a low ball and half thinks he’s going to see us and think we’re insane,” Carrano joked.

She will keep Trigger at Hounds Town USA until the Guardians of Rescue can arrange to have him transported across the country.

Festa said they are still figuring out how best to do that. They’ve raised $1,500 for the trip but need to figure out the logistics. One thing they’d like to avoid is having Trigger go through any more stress by being cargo shipped.

The group is looking for options. A luxury trip on a private jet with a dog-loving owner who’s already heading to Seattle is one idea that was brought up by members. Another is to make the trip on Amtrak.

While they’re figuring it out, Festa and Carrano have another mission. They’re trying to find a dog for Jeff, who is still distraught over Savannah’s tragic death. Carrano has a rescue dog named Jean-Luc Picard in mind for him.

Jean-Luc Picard is a dog that Festa pulled off the streets after seeing him beaten and emaciated “from a neighborhood most people wouldn’t even drive through, let alone get out of their car,” wrote Carrano in a recent blog post.

Festa said that they are determined to find Jeff the right dog so if Jean-Luc Picard doesn’t work out they’ll keep looking for the right furry companion.

“It’s about helping the soldiers,” she said. “They do everything they can to help the country and we’ll help them over here.”

Come back to Port Jefferson Patch to follow Trigger's journey from J.F.K. airport to Hounds Town USA and his reunion with Matthew.

See photos of Trigger when he arrived in the U.S.

Read Hounds Town's Marianne Carrano blog post about Trigger's arrival.