Unfinished paperwork kept a now-retired military dog from leaving Virginia for Colorado with his handler in March. On Memorial Day, after more than a month apart, the two finally reunited.
“I’ve been through so much with this dog,” U.S. Army Specialist Kameron Markert said. “It was hard to believe it was actually happening.”
Markert fought for his bomb-sniffing dog, Attila, to be medically retired after the dog was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, renal disease and kidney disease last year. Attila also survived the removal of a cancerous tumor from his leg.
The pair worked together in the field for more than three years.
“I thought he was super annoying at first,” Markert said. “He was always the one jumping on the fence and barking, but … he was just a sweetheart.”
Markert said he quickly grew to love and trust Attila, often bringing a sleeping bag to the kennels so he could spend the night cuddled up with the German shepherd.
The paperwork was missing one veterinary signature in March when Markert was transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, preventing Attila from leaving with him as planned, Markert said.
Then, in early May, Markert got the news: Attila’s paperwork was complete and the dog was ready to be adopted. The question became how to get Attila across the country.
“I don’t know if I would be the man I am today if it weren’t for Attila,” Markert said. “I would have driven 50 hours in two days to get him, but it would not have been easy with his health conditions.”
That’s when the American Humane Society stepped in.
“We would never want it to be a situation where a handler wasn’t able to adopt their dog because they didn’t think they could afford to get the dog to them,” said April Smith, an animal handler for the humane society’s Military Working Dog Reunification program.
Smith travels with retired military dogs and reunites them with their soldier partners for adoption, both across the country and overseas. The handler said she fit Attila’s trip into a small 10-day slot between two other transports.
Smith picked up Attila last week from a military base in Virginia and let him stay with her in an Airbnb for a few days leading up to the cross-country flight to decompress and adjust, she said.
“As soon as you see him, you can look into his eyes and tell how intelligent he is,” she said. “He’ll come and plop down in your lap and want you to play with him … Even though he didn’t know who I was three days ago, he warmed up really quickly.”
The pair flew into Colorado on Sunday and spent the night in another rental, this time in Arvada, where the Markert family joined them for the reunion on Monday morning.
It felt like seeing a family member you haven’t visited in years, Markert said.
He said Attila was just as excited to reunite with him and the rest of the family, including Markert’s wife, five-year-old son and seven-month-old daughter.
When the family made it back to their Colorado Springs home, Markert said Attila clicked right into place, even when he met the two other dogs living there.
Attila met the family multiple times before and bonded with each of them, except for the dogs, Markert said.
“He’s one of us,” Markert said. “…He’s officially retired to ‘Fort Couch’.”
In addition to covering the cost of the trip, AHS will also cover the cost of Attila’s future veterinary care.
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