Ratchet

Beberg and Ratchet - Image from AP

Ratchet the puppy has hit headlines in pretty much all self-respecting newspapers. But for those of you who haven't yet clued in on Ratchet's sweet story here it is. Ratchet was adopted by Sgt. Gwen Beberg in Iraq after some soldiers rescued him from a pile of burning trash in May this year. Beberg wanted to have Ratchet with her when she flew back to her home in Minnesota after her deployment ends in November. But the military prohibits soldiers from adopting pets abroad and bringing them back to the U.S. and Ratchet was confiscated from a convoy bound for Baghdad airport. The SPCA took special interest and thousands of people across the globe signed online petitions on their site pleading the U.S. military to allow Ratchet into the country. Now finally, an animal rescue group called Operation Baghdad Pups (OBP), have succeeded in reuniting Ratchet with her friend Beburg ending her long struggle. The OBP's first attempt was foiled by the military on 1 October but on 19th Ratchet finally landed in the U.S. with military clearance. The entire effort will cost about $5000 according to the SPCA but then to Beberg, Ratchet is priceless as she says that she couldn't have got through her 13 month deployment without him.