LABRADOR RETRIEVER RESCUE
SOUTHERN ENGLAND
Tangye our four-legged war hero!
In January this year one of our trustees noticed the following story on the BBC news website.
British soldiers in Afghanistan have begun a campaign to save a dog which has been patrolling alongside them. Tangye the black Labrador has survived gun battles and explosions but troops fear he could end up being killed. With the increased risk from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the men of C Company, 3rd Battalion The Rifles, want to find Tangye a home in the UK. L/Cpl Brent Meheux, from Exeter, said the dog was a "morale booster", but it was too dangerous for him to continue.
“It would mean an awful lot to the lads to know he was safe” said L/Cpl Brent Meheux. "He has been such a morale-booster for the lads, but he can't do what he loves doing over here anymore - it's too dangerous. "We want someone to help us get him back to a safe home in the UK."
Tangye was named after a village on Helmand river opposite the forward operating base at Kajaki. He has been living at the base since a British soldier bought him as a puppy from a dam worker about five years ago. L/Cpl Meheux, a 44-year-old Territorial Army soldier, said Tangye has done more patrols than most soldiers and he should be retired. "When the lads are under contact he will run up and down the line barking and wagging his tail," he said. "It's as if he is shouting encouragement - he loves it.”
Tangye is described by the soldiers of C company as "fearless under fire" "But we had to stop him coming out on patrol about a week ago. The IED threat is just too high. It's gone through the roof." He said the dog was fearless and would even be the first to jump through if soldiers exploded a hole in a compound wall as they cleared a village of insurgents. "The Taliban probably know about him and think he is a sniffer dog. I'm sure they would want to make him a target," L/Cpl Meheux said.
Within a few hours of reading the report LRRSE, along with Natalie Pomroy from Labrador Link Rescue had launched an appeal via justgiving to raise the necessary money to bring Tangye home. A facebook page kept everyone up to date with news and the appeal quickly spread far and wide with many people donating everything from 50p to one very generous donation of £500. Before too long in excess of £5800 had been raised, added to that was a substantial gift aid amount, which brought the total raised to just over £7000. We then set about contacting NOWZAD dogs http://www.nowzaddogs.co.uk/ a rescue in Afghanistan run by Pen Farthing, who helps the stray dogs and cats out there find loving homes. After a lot of planning on our behalf Pen was finally able to arrange for Tangye to come over to the UK. He finally arrived in the UK on 24th March 2010.. Everyone who contributed via the justgiving page and facebook campaign was given the opportunity to apply to rehome Tangye and by the time you read this we will have identified a new home for him where he will be able to go and live his new life just as soon as he has completed his 6 months in quarantine. LRRSE would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Tangye appeal and we are sure Tangye himself would say thank you too if only he could.
Update: August 2010 We are very pleased to announce that Tangye has a lovely new home waiting for him for when he comes out of quarantine. Our thanks and good wishes go everyone who offered a home to him.