Remember the story we told you in October about the solidier and the dog she wanted to rescue from Iraq? It officially has a happy ending.
Army Sergeant Gwen Beberg returned to her Spring Lake Park, Minn., home after completing a tour of duty. Among the first to greet her was Ratchet, the mutt she befriended after finding him near a pile of burning trash.
"Hey, baby," Beberg said after receiving a sloppy kiss from the dog at a homecoming attended by family, friends and supporters. "Oh, you got so big. Oh, you got so big. Yeah, who's home? Who's home, huh?"
The reunion almost never took place. Beberg was rebuffed in her efforts to rescue the black and white pup when an offer cited regulations that prevent soldiers from keeping pets - just as a convoy was taking Ratchet to an airport so he could be flown to the U.S.
With the help of Operation Baghdad Pups, an organization that assists soldiers hoping to rescue dogs and cats from Iraq, and almost 70,000 signatures collected from online petitions, Ratchet made it to his new home. He has been cared for by Beberg's parents, Ted and Pat Beberg.
Beberg hopes to train Ratchet as a therapy dog. But most of all, she's happy to be home. So is Ratchet.
"He loves Minnesota," she said. "He thinks it's one giant field of treats."
