Bring Dave the dog home to Walthamstow

By
kerry
 – August 17, 2010Posted in: Local Campaigns
Dave the dog; photo: Alex Mutch

A marine has launched a campaign to bring an abused puppy home from war-stricken Afghanistan – but he needs your help to make this happen.

Alex Mutch, 32, of Walthamstow is a Royal Marine on tour with 40 Commando in the Sangin District of Afghanistan. The animal lover came to the aid of a 2 month-old puppy when he saw local Afghans taunting and abusing him. Marine Mutch intervened by successfully offering to trade a box of mini flares with the men for the young dog.

The puppy, who has been christened Dave, was initially affected by the trauma but now lives happily with Alex and his comrades: “When I first got the puppy he would bite and hide behind bits of wood, after just two days he was happy running around and wagging his tail” said Alex.

Since April, losses for 40 Commando have risen to 14. Dave the dog has provided some comfort to Alex in particular; he named his new pet in memory of his friend David Hart, 23, who was killed in July this year. For all his companions, Dave has been a welcome distraction and source of comfort.

Along with his friends and family, Alex is now striving for Dave to be allowed to come home to live with him in Walthamstow and the charity Nowzad has been enlisted to help. Former marine, Pen Farthing, established the charity after witnessing the condition of stray dogs in Afghanistan whilst on tour there. Today, Nowzad assists in the rescue and re-homing of cats and dogs from Iraq and Afghanistan.

For Dave to come to Walthamstow, Alex first needs to arrange for him to be moved to an animal shelter before his tour of duty ends in September. Before he leaves, he also has to secure arrangements for the puppy’s travel, veterinary checks, treatment and fees, paperwork costs and the standard 6-months quarantine. To achieve all this, £4,000 must be raised and there is now a race against time to do so.

So far, 66% (£2,656.50) of the target for Dave’s fund has been raised through local donations and a Facebook campaign, which now has almost 700 supporters.

For further details, contact Lucy Ledger, fundraiser for Nowzad at lucyledger@hotmail.co.uk.

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