Help Save Cardi & Ivar image

Help Save Cardi & Ivar

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Paws of War is urgently working with a U.S. Marine to help get two dogs to the U.S. that were found being intentionally starved. The dogs will be able to live out their lives with the Marine who found and cared for them. Moving the dogs to the U.S. is a task they have experience with, but it's costly, and they can't do it alone.

“This is the type of case that we have to have financial support from the community to help make it happen,” says Derek Cartwright, a veteran and the coordinator for Paws of War. "We believe people will want to support this mission and come together to ensure Captain Vivaldi is reunited with Cardi and Ivar in April.”

Captain Vivaldi was stationed in an undisclosed area of Asia when she came across a pregnant dog in bad shape that was in a cage and being intentionally starved. The temperature was over 100 degrees, and the conditions were harsh. It's an area where dogs are seen as disposable, and this dog was left to fend for herself. When Captain Vivaldi walked into her life, she was thin, hungry, thirsty, and in need of help. She took the dog she named Cardi and helped nurse her back to health. Along the way, they bonded, and the day arrived when Cardi gave birth to a puppy named Ivar. Due to a difficult birth, the puppy could not use his back legs for a while, but those in the platoon pitched in to help. He was able to gain physical strength, and his condition improved. Today, he can run around with his mom, and the two of them are Captain Vivaldi's running partners.

Having gotten orders that her deployment overseas has ended, Captain Vivaldi is desperate to bring the two dogs back to the U.S. with her. She reached out to Paws of War to help make it happen because they have helped many people in the military to relocate the dogs they have nursed back to health and bonded with.

“We have all bonded and become family. Cardi and Ivar helped me through a tough deployment, and I can't leave them behind in this harsh place," says Captain Vivaldi. "It would not be safe for the dogs to be left behind. They would surely die. Besides that, we've bonded and have so much love for one another. I can't imagine them not living with me for the rest of their lives."

Paws of War is seasoned when it comes to pulling off such missions like this, but they are costly, and they need people in the community to pitch in and help make it happen. Relocation expenses include healthcare, airfare, paperwork, and additional fees.