Update on Ratchet, the dog in Iran (Sgt. Beberb's dog is now missing)

[Omaha Steve]

Video of Ratchet was posted earlier today: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x214660

UPDATE.

http://www.cocothebloggingdog.com/2008/10/im-still-anxiously-hoping-that-ratchet.html



Ratchet as a pup.

I'm still anxiously hoping that Ratchet the dog in Iraq, will be allowed to come to the US. The ASPCA and Baghdad Pups are involved, but Gwen's commanding officer will not release the dog without a military order. On the same day, they allowed 15 other soldiers to ship their dog's home, but not Gwen's dog. Gwen raised $4,000 to send Ratchet back, but is now raising more money because Ratchet lost the flight he was supposed to be on. A military order would have to come through by the beginning of next week, or she would have to abandon Ratchet in Iraq, which would be a sure death. This has been such an unnecessary cruel action by Gwen's commanding officers. I hope that Gwen and Ratchet both arrive safely home in the USA soon.

UPDATE: As I was writing this post I have been notified that at this moment no one knows where Ratchet is! Sgt. Gwen Beberg got off duty and went back to where she stays and Ratchet was gone. No leash, no collar, no chain. How did her dog just magically disappear? I don't know for sure, but something tells me her commanding officer probably does. All they had to do was allow Ratchet to come home! Gwen raised all the money, made all the arrangements, and did everything she needed to do. Why would someone completely go out of the way to be cruel to this soldier who has done her best to serve in Iraq, and this poor innocent dog? Hopefully, Baghdad Pups will be able to find Ratchet. Please tell Gwen's representatives to support searching for Ratchet, relieve Gwenn's commanding officer of his duties, and never allow this to happen again.

Here is the Contact information for the MN Senators and Gwen's Representative:

Senator Amy Klobuchar:
[phone] -or- [phone]

Senator Norm Coleman:
[phone] -or- [phone]

Representative Keith Ellison,
(West Twin Cities, Minneapolis)
[phone]

In addition, why is FOX and CNN not covering this? Please write to them and ask them to cover this story. I'm still hoping they will find Ratchet. Either way, I would really like to put Gwens commanding officer in the spotlight and let him explain his actions to the American public.

http://www.cocothebloggingdog.com/2008/10/im-still-anxiously-hoping-that-ratchet.html

[flvegan]

1. K&R for Ratchet

[leftchick]

2. CNN actually has an article up about them....

Puppy stays in Iraq, Army tells soldier


http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/14/iraq.puppy.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview



* Story Highlights
* Soldiers rescue puppy from a burning pile of trash back in May
* 10,000 people sign online petition urging Army to let puppy come home with soldier
* Operation Baghdad Pups says it has gotten 50 dogs transferred to the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Army to let an Iraqi puppy come home with a Minnesota soldier, who fears that "Ratchet" could be killed if left behind.

"I just want my puppy home," Sgt. Gwen Beberg of Minneapolis wrote to her mother in an e-mail Sunday from Iraq, soon after she was separated from the dog following a transfer. "I miss my dog horribly." Beberg, 28, is scheduled to return to the U.S. next month.

Ratchet's defenders are ratcheting up their efforts to save him. On Monday, the program coordinator for Operation Baghdad Pups, which is run by Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International, left for a trip to the Middle East to try to get the puppy to the U.S.

And last week, Beberg's congressman, Democrat Keith Ellison, wrote to the Army urging it to review the case.

Beberg and another soldier rescued the puppy from a burning pile of trash back in May. Defense Department rules prohibit soldiers in the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq, from adopting pets, but exceptions have been made. Operation Baghdad Pups says it has gotten 50 dogs and six cats transferred to the U.S. in the last eight months.

"I'm coping reasonably well because I refuse to believe that Ratchet has been hurt," Beberg wrote in the e-mail to her mother, Patricia Beberg. "If I find out that he was killed though -- well, we just won't entertain that possibility."

[RamboLiberal]

3. If ABC News is correct Ratchet was found alive in Freezer on Monday

She said Monday that her daughter sent another e-mail saying that she confirmed that the dog was still alive and doing OK. Apparently, someone had stashed him in a meat freezer.

Operation Baghdad Pups' program coordinator, Terry Crisp, left for a flight to Dubai on Monday and is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Wednesday. Crisp said it wasn't clear who put the puppy in the freezer, whether it was done to hide him or to freeze him to death, or whether the freezer was operational. Ratchet has since been taken out of the freezer.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6029548&page=1

Hope this is the correct news. I just signed the petition and emailed to my pet-loving coworkers.