Marine works to bring home rescued dog from Afghanistan
A Southern Colorado Marine hopes to bring home a dog he rescued in Afghanistan.
When Lance Cpl. Jason Nielsen found the white lab in August, she was in bad condition, malnourished and abused.
“Small, little puppy, just in a horrible place,” Nielsen told KRDO via Skype. “The only thing it could eat was ash. They don’t care much for dogs in Afghanistan so we just kind of picked her up.”
Nielsen took the dog under his wing and named her Betty White.
“It was the only white dog we’d seen in Afghanistan ever,” Nielsen explained.
Nielsen said he instantly felt a special bond with Betty White.
“It kind of just grew attached to me real quick,” he said. “Would whine if I didn’t let her in bed with me, would whine if I left the room. I kind of grew attached to it real quick, too.”
Nielsen’s sister, Brittany Voci, and mother, Victoria Evans, told KRDO NewsChannel 13 they weren’t surprised at Nielsen’s connection because he grew up with dogs.
“He just said something about Betty White just melted his heart,” Voci said. “For a tough Marine, he was pretty sincere in how he felt about her.”
Through the charity Nowzad, Nielsen found a way to help Betty White. Nowzad helps rescue stray and abandoned animals in Afghanistan and adopt them out.
But that’s when Nielsen realized he didn’t want Betty White to go to any home, he wanted her to go to his home in Fountain so he could reunite with her.
“I can go to a shelter and get a dog or I can have my own dog back in the states,” he said. “It’s hard to come across someone who has had a dog from Afghanistan, rescued it from somewhere, got it to a group that took care of it and is is living his life with the dog he rescued from Afghanistan.”
Nielsen now has to raise $4,000 for medical and transport fees through Nowzad to bring Betty White home. Nielsen will return home in a couple of months but Betty White, now at a Nowzad shelter, can come to Fountain whenever the money is raised.
“We have 40 acres,” said Evans. “We have kennels ready. We have everything ready.
“He’s been raised with labs and he feels a connection there and because of the danger I believe he connected with the dog and probably makes him feel at peace too to have this dog and take care of her.”
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