Mission Tails: Out of Africa

By Lori Kalef, SPCAI staff Forget Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Meet Nelson, Jemma and Prince! Three of the most deserving, adorable and special animals I have come to know over the last few weeks as we worked day and night to save their lives for 2 U.S. Soldiers deployed in Obo, Central African Republic and Uganda. 13318949_3053791461653_656967889_n.jpg Since this was a part of the world we have never worked in before, it took weeks of research and planning to arrange for their rescue and transport to the United States. When all 3 animals were safe in Entebbe with one of the Soldiers, it wasn’t long before we needed to find an alternative temporary home due to the commanding officers’ new orders. During Transport.png Our extraordinary new partners at The Big Fix were a 7 hour car drive away, but quickly came to their rescue and brought the trio back to their facility. Once there, Nelson, Jemma and Prince were treated like royalty until we could organize their trip to the U.S. IMG_4610.JPG It was an all team effort as our trusted and valued partner from TAWESO in Tanzania, Dr. Kahema, flew to Uganda to accompany the animals home. The journey was long with many layovers in order to give everyone a break, but all the animals and our tireless flight representative arrived with big smiles and wagging tails (the four-legged portion of that group at least!). 14060378_3136548370524_1996423246_o.jpg OBP: Africa doesn’t stop there! Four more amazing and beautiful dogs are currently on their way from Egypt to the United States where they will be reunited with their anxious military parents who befriended them while on deployment too! Stay tuned for more mission ‘tails’ and updates on our Facebook page.