Military family deployed, forced to leave beloved dog behind
PACIFIC, Wash. -- KOMO News has received some pretty peculiar mail over the years, but I suspect the letter we recently received from “Calvin, The Big Red Dog” was our first canine correspondence.
Pacific resident Katie Garberding wrote to KOMO on behalf of Calvin, a 6-year-old Chesapeake Bay /Golden Retriever mix, asking for help reuniting him with his family.
Calvin belongs to Garberding’s daughter Helen, whose military family moved to Belgium earlier this month. Despite the family’s love for their dog, they could not afford to fly him overseas.
“A few weeks ago my family hugged me and kissed me as they said their goodbyes,” Garberding wrote on behalf of Calvin. “I know that they didn’t want to leave me.”
Garberding is now collecting donations to send Calvin to Belgium. She says her grandchildren desperately miss him.
When 4-year-old Lily got sick after the flight to her new home, Garberding says she kept asking for the family dog.
“They’re all devastated,” Garberding says. “They’re in a new country where they don’t know anybody and they’re not complete.”
Garberding says Calvin will always have a home with her, but she can tell he misses his family. She says the retriever has “sad eyes” and often sits in her driveway watching cars pass by.
“It’s almost like he’s waiting for them to come get him,” Garberding says.
Not unlike other military families, Helen's has moved around a lot. She and her husband Ryan enlisted in the Army in 1997. She left the service shortly after her 11-year-old son Thomas was born. The family has lived in New York, Texas and Germany while Ryan was deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.
Three years ago Ryan was transferred to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the family moved to Washington, Helen’s home state. That’s when Calvin came into their lives.
The dog had been living with Helen’s sister Emily until she moved to an apartment that didn’t allow pets. As soon as the Bingamans took Calvin in, Garberding says he adopted their three children as his “puppies.”
“He is so gentle with the kids,” Garberding says. “He is the rock that keeps them together.”
But when Helen's family was preparing to move to Belgium, they learned it would costs between $1,100 and $2,000 to fly Calvin with them. Helen asked her mother to babysit Calvin until the family could save enough money to fly him over.
To help reunite the family, Garberding has created a savings account at Chase Bank to collect the funds needed to fly Calvin to Belgium and back again when the family returns to the United States in 3 years. She hopes to raise $4,000. Garberding says any funds that are not used on Calvin’s flight will be donated to the Auburn Humane Society.
“We love him, but my grandkids need him,” Garberding says. “They need as much consistency as possible.”
Readers can help Calvin by contacting Garberding at imadaisylady@aol.com.
Calvin made his journey from Seattle Washington to Mons Belgium yesterday, March 26th. He was reunited with his family and they are ALL very happy! Thank you to all of the KOMO viewers/readers that gave us your love, praryers and donations.
Monies raised were $1,016. that helped to cover the cost of travel, which was $1,600 including: his flight, veterinarian health check, USDA (passport certification) and an additional veterinary check in Amsterdam. On behalf of Calvin's family... We thank you!
There are pictures and a video posted on Calvin's facebook page "Have Crate Will Travel" for
everyone to enjoy!
Calvin made his journey from Seattle Washington to Mons Belgium yesterday, March 26th. He was reunited with his family and they are ALL very happy! Thank you to all of the KOMO viewers/readers that gave us your love, praryers and donations. On behalf of Calvin's family... We thank you! There are pictures and a video posted on Calvin's facebook page "Have Crate Will Travel" for everyone to enjoy!
Personally i would not put my dog on that long a flight - alone - in the cargo hold. no way.Â
Honestly, wanting to raise $4000 for a $1300 job... sorry but no... I don't have much faith left in people with all the charity scammers lately... not to mention an excess amount donated by other to move a single family pet and then give them a tax deduction for the charity donation.. if they actually do that ... no thank you
@Freespeechif you read it properly she wants to raise both the money to fly the dog there AND back when the family returns to the states in 3 years and that any extra money would go to a humane society.
I can't remember what shipping company but they charge active duty on orders half the cost it normally would be to ship a pet. In some cases it's just better to find a foster family until they are state side again. Good luck to all.
Too many pets die in the quarantine process as well....some pets have to be quaranteened for up to 3 months..not good.
@k_did Yep. Just better to be a responsible pet owner and leave the pet here with someone who will keep it safe.
I love dogs and think this would be heartbreaking. On the otherhand, if you are in the military and have to move a lot, maybe a pet isn't for you. I am glad this dog is being cared for by family of the enlisted but imagine how many pets are given to shelters because the military owners have to move around and are too selfish to think that maybe it isn't in the animals best interest to be with a military family.
@Anarchy I'm choking on the line about how the dog needs to be with them because the kids need as much consistency as possible.
@dontneedheels @Anarchy HAHA! I missed that. Good catch. I also think if this is that upsetting, they would've figured out a way to take him.Â
@Anarchy
I can understand your viewpoint about military families not having pets. But I also see the flipside. Military families have to deal with the fact that a loved one can be away from home for several months or years at a time, and that's especially difficult for children. A pet wonât necessarily fill that gap, but it can help make it just a bit smaller.
@Central I understand what you are saying but check the animal shelters near military bases. I bet there are many that get left when the owners are deployed or restationed. I am sure the owners may not want to do that but they need to think ahead and realize it is not in the animal's best interest.
@Central If the military lifestyle is so bad for children the answer is not to get a dog that you have to abandon later. The answer is to get out of the military -- or don't start if you plan to have kids.
http://www.ryannewmanfoundation.org/Â Â Â Â Tell these people to talk to the Ryan Newman Foundation If it is for people in the Military his group will help in some way.
I wouldn't ship a pet overseas, too many of them die in transit. They should just board the dog with a friend here until they get back.Â
Come on FedEx, if you can ship a whale surely a little red dog wouldn't be a problem.
http://youtu.be/z7OPPZib1Ao
The military does not pay to fly even Military Working Dogs that are retired back to the United States from overseas if a former handler wants to adopt the dog as a pet. They will pay for the dog to be flown to Lackland AFB to be adopted by a family or police agency, but will do nothing for the handler or former handler. Go to Military Working Dogs online to find out more.
No pet quarantine for Belgium. In any case, maybe military families have special rules, depending on whether they live on base or not?Â
$5 to researching cancer disappears into a vast hole. $5 to a homeless person buys him food and a hot drink. $5 to send this dog to his family makes him and some people, including kids, very happy. So donate only if your heart strings are pulled. Mine are.
Why are we deploying military personnel to Belgium? Doesn't anyone ask that question? Is there a war there? Can Belgium not defend itself against France and Holland? Is there a planned invasion to take all their beer?
Forget the dog for just a moment and ask why we're sending military personnel to Europe. This is part of why we have this huge deficit problem. We're the new Roman legion, sending our people all over the world so we have a presence everywhere. Absolute nonsense. Is our military presence in Belgium making us safer or protecting our freedoms at home?
I know some will give me a hard time for being unpatriotic, but I think these are fair questions. Before we address the issue of this lonely dog, I think it entirely fair to ask why we need a military presence in a sleepy little country in Western Europe known for its beautiful landscape, beer and friendly people. What is the military threat that requires us to have a permanent military presence there?
@Bellevue Scott - Maybe you should educate yourself. Google "NATO" and see that it's located in Brussels. You also might want to take a look at what has happened twice in the last century when Germany is left to its own devices.Â
Since you're obviously very young, I'd suggest you take a class in European History and learn for yourself why we send military troops to Europe.Â
If their dog will be leaving the US for a foreign country, it'll have to be in quarantine for months according to what I've heard. That's very expensive also.
no quarantine needed just for the pet to be chipped. Â doesnt the army pay for soldiers and their family when they are deployed? Â im pretty sure they do. Â if they werent deployed and chose to move shouldn't the family have made sure they could afford to move before they decided too? Â incidentally id like a trip overseas so if anyone out there would like to pay for it let me know.
@Wishing1 Unfortunately it's not just a matter of money. Subjecting a dog to a LONG plane ride in the cargo hold of a plane is out of the question. Then like you pointed out it will have to be caged and quarantined for a significant period of time (all at owners expense). Then what?? This is a military family we are talking about. They could get uprooted again in less than a year. What happens to the dog when they have to leave it behind again?
I know the family misses the dog but at least it is in a loving home with people who realize what a treasured member of the family it is. One can assume that they will be coming back at some point to visit Grandma and they can see the dog then. If and when they get transferred back to the US they can reclaim the pooch but for now I think the dog is better off where it is.
@Petwlkr @Wishing1 Even if they flew straight to London or Frankfurt, it would be a minimum of 10 hours in the hold, just for that flight, then a layover and a short flight to Belgium.  That's a lot.  I thought like you did - what happens when they get moved again?  When we were in the military, 3 year tours were expected overseas because it cost so much to get people there.......then what?  Most of Europe is SO dog-centric, they would have no problem at all finding a dog to adopt there, though they should have a backup plan for when they come stateside again.  I agree, the dog is probably good where he is for now. Â
I will be donating to this family. Â We can pay our Congressional representatives to sit on their fat rear ends and do nothing to help military families whose loved one lays his/her life on the line every day for OUR freedoms.Â
My PUD bill is due, please send donations to my paypal acct. TIA
Are you kidding? Hmmm, I have some money here. Donate it to cancer research, or give it to this family so they can ship their dog to Belgium and back. Good grief, when you're moving around a lot, especially when it involves other continents, the smart thing to do would be to not get pets.
Oh, and thank you for your service.
@Illuminati truth be told some pets are more well behaved and more likeable and loving than many a human
@BlueJedi @Illuminati You hit the nail on the head on that one. Never heard of a dog starting a war, driving drunk, commiting murder, or any of the other stupid things we "superior" humans do. 99% of the time they just want to be your buddy.
@Dieseldog @BlueJedi @Illuminati got that right. Give my dog a piece of sausage or hot dog, pet her on the head, toss her a ball, tell her she's a good girl and then rub her belly. In return you'll have a dog that loves and worships the ground you walk upon.
you mean yourself?
I hope they are able to find a way to reunite their dog with their family.Â