Please tell the military to let soldiers keep their pets

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Army Spc. Gwen Beberg rescued a homeless puppy from a

burning pile of trash while on active duty in Iraq last

May and named her new friend Ratchet. She says she

couldn't have made it through her 13-month deployment

without Ratchet. But Ratchet needed to be rescued a

second time - this time from the United States military.

Please tell the military to let soldiers keep their pets:

http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ABEWq/xHcU/ANR12

The U.S. military has a set of regulations called

General Order 1A (GO-1A), which prohibits conduct that

compromises character and morale. Yet GO-1A includes a

strict prohibition on soldiers keeping pets, even

though soldiers' pets provide immeasurable comfort

and clearly would enhance, not compromise, morale.

Because of these regulations, the military has a

policy of confiscating and killing animals rescued by

our troops in Iraq, rather than allowing those who have

sacrificed so much to adopt and take home the animals

that have seen them through the horrors of war.

Our troops and their pets should not suffer any more -

urge the military to rescind GO-1A's prohibition

on keeping pets: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ABEWq/xHcU/ANR12

Ratchet was lucky. Tens of thousands of citizens like

you signed a petition urging clemency for him, and

after several tries the wonderful people at SPCA

International's Operation Baghdad Pups were able to secure

his release and fly him back to Minnesota so that he would

be waiting for Spc. Beberg when she arrives home.

But many cats and dogs, and the brave service men and

women who have rescued them, still need our help. Every

one of us, no matter what our opinion of the current

wars is, can support our troops by asking the

Department of Defense to immediately end their policy

of confiscating and killing soldiers' rescued pets.

Please stand up for all of the other Ratchets still in

Iraq: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ABEWq/xHcU/ANR12

Thank you,

Rebecca Young,

Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

P.S. People like you made a real difference for Ratchet and

Spc. Beberg. Please forward this email to your friends and

family so we can help all of the animals rescued and adopted

by our troops in Iraq!

P.P.S. Watch Ratchet's heartwarming homecoming here:

http://www.startribune.com/video/32725779.html