Operation Syria.....Let's get the dogs out!

OK, so I promised to tell the story of Operation Syria a while back so........here we go!
Back about a year ago, I was put in touch with a journalist who was in the midst of war torn Syria. Some children had abused a couple of little puppies and were dragging them over to a ditch to dump them in to die. As luck would have it, Phil was able to intervene just in time! Even luckier, this same thing had happened to him the last time he was there, so he was better prepared than most to deal with it.  The pups were only a couple months old, and things as common as puppy replacement formula, puppy food, vets, medicine and many other things that we take for granted here, were a rare find in Syria! Despite all that, he did an amazing job with the little brothers!

He kept them safe and cared for, and they thrived under his care! Of course now that he had rescued them he was planning on trying to get them out of the country when he  returned to the states. He told me to put the word out that they would need good homes!
Seriously, like I wasn't going to step up for one of them! No chance! LOL  I had the room after all. (Unfortunately it was due to the loss of my dear Boo Boo, and following that, a little girl Panda, that I had pulled from a shelter in Texas. She became ill during transport and had to be euthanized....I never talked about that!). We didn't look much further for the other pup either! My sister in law took one look and it was all over. The brothers would live 5 minutes from each other and could always visit!
Now we just had to wait until February, and hope the pups and Phil could make it safely out of the country.

In the meantime, the puppies thrived. Then, finally, Phil began the treacherous trek out of Syria. Dangerous enough just for him, worse with 2 puppies in tow! A report on the news of bombs going off in Damascus, killing many the day he was going through there. The danger he was in becoming all to real! Finally word came that they made it out of  Damascus about 10 minutes before the bombs.....a close call. Then at last, they were on the final leg....the flight home into Boston! 
A couple months after it all started....they all arrive safe and sound at Logan! Me, my sister in law Christine, and Phil's fiance Emma are among the gang waiting to greet them.
At last, the boys are on the final leg of their journey on the car ride HOME!

Boomer wasted no time settling in and became fast friends with the boys!

Bruin and Boomer often getting together to visit...and growing like weeds....yes that's the same little piggy bed from above!

 

He's a gentle soul and gets along just fine with canine and feline alike!

Bernard is his best bud for sure!

For a dog used to the hot sands of Syria, he sure took to the snow very well!

Thanks to my good friend and awesome photographer, Heather Morey, for some awesome shots of the sand turned snow dog!

All the boys!

Still growing!

Still best buds! They play like maniacs when they get together!

Loves kids!

A sweet, wonderful, (at times little trouble maker) addition to the family....able to enjoy a happy life instead of dead at the bottom of a ditch in a country where so many are suffering.....

Heather says it best.....

Thanks so much Phil for saving our wonderful boys! Phil and Emma had a chance to visit the boys all grown up recently just before getting married and they were thrilled to see how well the boys were doing....and we were thrilled to thank them once again for going above and beyond to save 2 helpless little creatures!
You can hear the interview Phil did with NHPR about the rescue here.