When it comes to dogs and military service, the military isn’t always the kindest to their four-legged veterans. And it’s a real shame because the men and women that they serve alongside grow very attached to their canine partners. One Army Specialist, Vance McFarland, spent a whole three years attempting to reunite with the bomb-sniffing dog he served with in Afghanistan.
McFarland worked alongside his partner Ikar, a Tactical Explosive Detection Dog, attempting to locate roadside bombs.
“Sometimes we’re good, sometimes were stressful,” he said to KTVB News. “Having Ikar definitely made it a lot better. Having a dog with you on deployment is almost like having a little bit of home.”
When the came back stateside in September 2012, he and Ikar had only long enough together for him to get one picture, before Ikar was sent back through the TEDD program, and got deployed to Afghanistan once again.
“It sucked. I mean we worked together for a long time. We were really close, then it was just like that, they took him away.”
Reportedly, the contract company informed the Army that they had a contract with these dogs to be repurposed and used again. It turns out they didn’t, and Ikar was abandoned.
Mission K9 Rescue and U.S. War Dogs Association workers attempted to find the handlers of these dogs.
McFarland said, “I got Facebook stalked, to be honest with you. I woke up one morning and had all kinds of messages on Facebook. People were like, ‘Is this your dog? Were you a dog handler in the Army?’ And I was like ‘Yea! What’s going on?’ That’s when I heard he had been abandoned and then saved and that I get the chance to adopt him now.”
McFarland didn’t hesitate as it was the easiest decision to make. And now, both he and Ikar don’t ever have to be separated ever again.
You can watch the video below:
