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Rescue dog from Afghanistan gets a second chance

Posted at 12:17 AM, Aug 02, 2012
and last updated 2012-08-02 06:33:42-04

Josh Poinsett and his dog "Freedom" share a special connection.

"I happened to be in the same place she was born, two days before she was born I had left. I used to go to the FOB  that she was born at all the time, we used to deliver goods to them in Afghanistan."

They're in the same place now thanks to a Waterloo Craigslist ad that his wife discovered about a month ago.

"She was over there the same time he was.  And that means a lot to me that they have that bond together. To me that's like, I gotta go get her," his wife says.

What the Poinsetts didn't know was that Freedom was already a celebrity.

The stray was rescued in Afghanistan by soldiers who snuck food and risked having their pay withheld to save her.

"They wanted to shoot the puppies, but her and some soldiers had went and hid the mom and the puppies so they couldn't,” says Mrs. Poinsett.

Since her arrival in the States, Freedom and her siblings have appeared in the media from New York to Iowa.

But for Poinsett, the bond hits closer to home.

"When I look at her I go, ‘Okay we, in a way, share some connection with that. It's encouraging to see that her life now is going to be a hundredfold better than what it could have been. Cause I've seen some of the strays over there, and the fact that we were on standing orders to shoot all dogs and cats on any American post..."

The Poinsetts are hoping to plan regular reunions for Freedom, her mom, and siblings who are currently scattered across the U.S.