Army Sergeant Wants to Rescue Small Dog from Middle East and Bring Her to U.S.

Animal nonprofit Paws of War is trying to help U.S. Army First Sergeant Jorge Ríos bring the freckled-nose puppy he found abandoned in the streets of the Middle East to the U.S. after his deployment. 

The Texas resident encountered the puppy in the desert, where she had been left behind by larger dogs after failing to keep up with them, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE from Paws of War, which added that the trembling puppy immediately gravitated toward Ríos.

The soldier named her Beuhring after Camp Beuhring base in Kuwait.

“Beuhring ran right up to me, and the adorable freckles on her nose were the first thing I noticed after how small she was. I was instantly smitten, but I knew there was no way she’d make it alone,” Ríos recalled in a statement.

“I gave her water and brought her to the base to nurse her back to health; she grew stronger daily, and so did our bond,” Ríos continued. “Now, if I go anywhere without her, she cries till I return. It’s so dangerous here for a dog like her, and I can give her a safe life if she can make it to America.”

Paws of War emphasized that its rescue efforts to bring Beuhring, or any other animals, to the U.S. are both intricate and expensive. 

“This soldier needs our help to get Beuhring to America, and we will do everything we can to make it happen,” co-founder Robert Misseri said in a statement. “We can do rescue missions like this, but they are complicated and costly. We always need the help of people in the community to provide the necessary financial support to see this case through.”

People interested in donating can visit the Paws of War website here.

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Ríos confessed that Beuhring “can’t survive” in the Middle East alone. 

“I wasn’t prepared for how much she would come to mean to me, but now she’s family, and I can't bear the thought of leaving her to fend for herself when I return back home. I know she can’t survive here,” he concluded.

Paws of War is a charitable organization that “assists military members and their pets, rescues and trains dogs to be service dogs, and provides companion animals to veterans and first responders,” per the release.