The dogs of war
Louise Hastie has dedicated more than a decade to saving animals from war-torn countries...
Nothing can prepare you for being sent to war – for the horrors you’ll see and the fear you’ll experience. I thought years of training in the Territorial Army had given me some insight into what it would be like. But even their lessons in saying goodbye to your family and shooting at targets gave me no idea, because targets don’t shoot back.
It was January 2004 when I was sent to Iraq in a logistics role, and those first few days were utterly terrifying.
We were ordered to write letters to our families in case anything happened to us, and hearing bullets whizz past at all times left me shaking.
Seeing the devastation war caused was shocking, too, and one of the things that struck me was the plight of innocent animals caught in the crossfire.
As we travelled between different bases, we’d see dozens of pitiful animals on the roadside.
Some were dead, others had been hit by armoured vehicles, and were pulling themselves around with broken bones and mangled limbs. Sadly, rabies was rife.
I’d always been an animal lover, so seeing the pain these creatures lived in was heartbreaking. The locals saw strays as a nuisance and poisoned them, leaving them to die a slow, cruel death.
The landscape was beautiful, though, so when my six-month tour was over, I decided to apply for a job in a private security company in Iraq. I lived on a US military base as a civilian, but I still hated seeing the suffering animals, and I wanted to make a difference.
Everyone said I was mad, but I wanted to try. Then, one of our cleaners brought me a half-dead kitten, and although my boss told me to get rid of it, I couldn’t. Instead, I nursed him back to health and called him Simba Al-Tikriti. I kept Simba a secret until we moved to a new camp, but then my boss found out. I wasn’t going to throw him out on the streets, so I hatched an elaborate plan, where one of the cleaners would smuggle him over the
border and, eventually, he’d be flown to my parents.
It was breaking all kinds of international laws, and placing me and the cleaner at an incredible risk, but I couldn’t see any other option. Thankfully, Simba eventually arrived in the UK.
Soon, word got out that some crazy woman was prepared to risk everything for animals, and people started contacting me for help. HowcouldIrefuse?
I came up with more and more wild schemes to save cats and dogs from death.
The American armed forces let me send medication and food packages to the front line in their tanks, then they’d send back photos of happy, healthy animals that our packages had helped.
I organised for three cats and two dogs to return to the UK and live with my parents.
Then, in December 2009, l moved to another security company, this time in Afghanistan, and offered my help at a local dog shelter. Soon, I was working 20-hour days, between my job and volunteering there. But I wanted to be able to give these animals my all. My heart belonged with them, so in May 2010, I quit my job to concentrate on the shelter. We were able to find a suitable plot of land and build a big new shelter. It was fairly basic, and I wasn’t trained as a vet, but I could vaccinate, de-worm and de-flea the animals.
When they heard about us, an international animal charity got in touch and, gradually, they trained a local man as a vet.
Slowly, we became big enough for us to employ another vet and house around 100 dogs. We were able to rehome and reunite some with their soldier counterparts.
Sadly, in October 2015, I had to return to the UK due to ill health, but it was a relief knowing I’d helped hundreds of animals.
And although I was leaving, I wasn’t going alone. I took five dogs and four cats from Afghanistan with me, at a cost of £16,000. Thankfully, with the incredible generosity of strangers, friends and family, we fundraised the money. I promised to keep them safe, and I’ll never break that promise.
I’d never wanted children, as I’d seen war. For me, it didn’t seem much of a world to bring little ones into. The animals became my family instead. Now, at 45, I work fulltime at a dog rescue centre, and I’m a trustee for War Paws, a charity based in Iraq, which I organise fundraising events for.
I also coordinate the arrangements for any dogs who are being adopted by families in the UK and US.
It’s a complicated, expensive procedure, but there are lots of people like me out there who just want to rescue these pups and give them a safe and happy life.
‘Word got out that some crazy woman was prepared to risk everything for animals’