Twenty dogs from across the globe have arrived at their final destination: a forever home. According to SPCA International, the animal protection organization arranged for 20 dogs rescued and adopted by U.S. military members while serving overseas to be flown to New York City, so the canines could reunite with the people who saved them and move into their forever homes.
As PEOPLE magazine reports, the dogs arrived at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 18, where they were greeted by SPCA International and some of their new families. Before landing in N.Y.C., the dogs were flown to Montreal, where they received vaccinations and care for several months until they were eligible for travel to the U.S.
The dogs’ time spent at a Canadian boarding facility due to the one-year ban the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed in June 2021 on the importation of dogs into the U.S. from more than 100 countries considered to be at high risk for rabies.
On June 3, according to SPCA International, the CDC relaxed the ban, reopening U.S. borders to dogs from previously banned countries as long as the animals are microchipped, at least six months old, and vaccinated against rabies. This shift allowed SPCA International to move the 20 dogs in Montreal into the U.S. to reunite with their new families.
“We were thrilled to see the CDC lift the restrictions for bringing dogs back to the U.S, and we are grateful to the boarding facility and its workers who cared for these special dogs until they were eligible and permitted to come home,” Ina Clark, the executive director of SPCA International, said in a statement. “It is so heartwarming to reunite our U.S. service members with the dogs they befriended while deployed, and we’re excited for the men and women whose furry friends from abroad will now join their family.”
SPCA International organized this 20-dog flight through its Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide program, which is dedicated to reuniting U.S. service members with the stray and homeless pets they befriended while deployed in foreign countries. The program achieves these reunions by handling the complicated logistics and costs of transporting an animal internationally.
SPCA International’s Operation Baghdad Pups: Worldwide program has helped over 1,200 military members reunite with the pets they adopted during their deployments.
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