SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A U.S. Army soldier based in Georgia has been reunited with the dog he nursed back to health while he was stationed in Kosovo.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was there as nonprofit Paws of War reunited Specialist Landon Gnade and Lepo.
“Man, I can’t tell you how great of a feeling that was. I felt like a little kid on Christmas again,” Gnade said.
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Back in February, Gnade was deployed to Kosovo. He says that while there, people in the community would drop off their sick dogs in front of the U.S. camp.
“They knew if they dropped them off in front of the U.S. camp, that all the U.S. soldiers would be like, ‘Puppies!’” he described. “We would take them in and try to bring them back to life.”
He said he didn’t anticipate forming a bond with Lepo.
“I didn’t think I was going to be building a connection with this dog, I was just trying to help out, put in my two cents and do all I could. And then you do that for a few days, you do that for a few weeks, months and then it’s like, ‘I love this dog,’ you know,” Gnade said.
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He thought when he came home to Georgia, he’d have to leave Lepo behind. But he learned about Paws of War that could help them stay together.
“These soldiers sacrifice so much to serve their countries overseas. To ask them to leave their animal behind is just too big,” Gary Baumann with Paws of War said.
It costs about $10,000 to bring each pet to the U.S. And Paws of War has been able to do this for 600 soldiers and veterans.
The pets get passports and then it’s time to reunite.
“I wish more people knew how much of an impact, in my opinion, Paws of War is having,” Gnade said. “People are going on a lot worse deployments, and seeing a lot worse things than I have and they’re not always going home to a wife, a girlfriend, a family.”
You can donate to Paws of War by clicking here.
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