Through thick and thin: How these hero US soldiers battled ice storm and hail to save mama dog and her 8 pups

A group of US Army soldiers who were deployed to theMiddle East are being hailed as heroes after they rescued a stray dog and her pups from a terrifying situation. Meatball, a pregnant dog, dug beneath a shipping container on the soldiers’ military base in the hope of finding a safe space to give birth to her puppies. The soldiers found her there, took care of her, nursed her, and gave her food and water as she delivered her eight children.

But the story is far from over. After Meatball became a mama, a rare ice storm hit. The dogs’ den was filled with hail and sludge. The soldiers, again, came to the rescue. They took Meatball and her pups away from the den to a warm and safe space. The soldiers formed a loving bond with each of the pups. US Army Staff Sgt. Rickly and fellow soldiers then hoped to ship the dogs to America to save them from any potential threat. From “the outside looking in, you might think I saved these puppies, but in so many ways, the pups and Meatball saved me, too,” Rickly wrote in a statement provided to Fox News Digital by Paws of War.

“When things back home took a turn for the worse, I became sad being so far away and it was hard to stay focused,” he added. “Making it my mission to ensure … that each of the pups has a loving forever home, and taking care of them, has given me great comfort during difficult times. I believe they were born under my watch for a reason.”

The soldiers approached Paws of War through the War-Torn Pups and Cats program to seek protection from the dogs. “Without the soldiers, Meatball’s babies would have died,” the organisation said. “And the heart-wrenching reality is that when their heroes are gone, they won’t make it long alone.”

“What will happen to them next scares me if they are not able to make it to safety,” Rickly said. “Since the day they were born, they have been taken care of, and they don’t know what suffering awaits them if they have to fend for themselves.

In a heartwarming Facebook post, Paws of War wrote, “Meet Meatball, the mother of eight pups rescued by a group of soldiers during an overseas deployment. The dogs gave our soldiers the love and joy they needed to get through their mission – and now the soldiers want to bring their loyal pets back to forever homes. Meatball and her pups, Marco, Azura, Connie, Thresher, Jacky, Ricky-Bobby, Chico & Bash are all sweet dogs, born into a family of soldiers, and they face a grim future if left behind. Paws of War and the eight soldiers have launched an urgent fundraiser to rescue these loyal dogs and reunite them with their beloved humans. It’s not an easy task – this is actually NINE rescues in one. Staff Sergeant Rickly puts it best: “you might think I saved these puppies, but in so many ways the pups and Meatball saved me too.” One can help the pups by donating here.

In a comment posted later, the organisation said, “Yes they all have been adopted by the soldiers who rescued them overseas.”

Dogs are often abused in the Middle East, and treated as “vermin.”“We made a commitment to help every hero we can to save the life of an animal they love,” Robert Misseri, co-founder and president of Paws of War, told Fox News Digital. “The story of Meatball and her pups is an example of how much these animals matter to our active military and the life-saving difference we can make for those animals who become family to them.”

“We are doing everything we can to ensure this mission to bring them to America and back to their soldiers’ sides has a happy ending,” he added.

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