By ENB
Jeremy Gordon does not have a normal dog.
Alice, her two-year-old Kuchi dog, a desert breed from Afghanistan, is a violent guard dog and the only deceptive member of her family.
"In my home I don't have to worry about protection," Gordon said. "But he's fun with the family and that's what I love about him."
Gordon, a veteran and a member of the Gazette audience group, helped rescue Alice and four other dogs from Afghanistan.
About two years ago, U.S. troops met with children in the town of Jalalabad preparing to dispose of puppy litter because dogs were considered a problem in the region, Gordon said. But soldiers have made children sell dogs for chocolate and Rip It energy drinks.
For three months the soldiers hid the dogs in a dungeon.
"The soldiers were taking them out to play," Gordon said. "They were even playing with fetching sticks."
But the battlefield is not a dog's place.
Soldiers met Gordon, who lived in the United States, and an organization called Nowzad, which rescues animals from Afghanistan, to bring dogs home. Together they raised enough money to fly the dogs overseas.
But the journey was not easy.
"When we saw the situation they were in it was very painful," Gordon said.
The dogs were thin and miserable after a connecting flight was delayed for two days.
Gordon found Alice in one of the soldiers. After several visits to the veterinarian, she was breastfed and returned to life.
"Seeing him finally able to get up and bring his body closer - it was amazing," Gordon said.