{"id":29118,"date":"2024-02-20T22:39:33","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T05:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/meet-the-afghanistan-rescue-dog-that-found-a-home-in-san-juan-county\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:49:13","slug":"meet-the-afghanistan-rescue-dog-that-found-a-home-in-san-juan-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/meet-the-afghanistan-rescue-dog-that-found-a-home-in-san-juan-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Afghanistan rescue dog that found a home in San Juan County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Roo,
Roo, an adopted dog from Kabul, Afghanistan, has found a home in San Juan County with Anne Marie McCarthy after being found on the streets by Nowzad founder Pen Farthing. Roo\u2019s deformed leg was amputated before a long flight over to McCarthy. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

After a lengthy process that involved a COVID-19 screening and a 13-hour flight, Roo, a dog rescued in Afghanistan, was placed in the care of Farmington resident Anne Marie McCarthy at Los Angeles International Airport in 2020.<\/p>\n

Roo was flown in by the nonprofit Nowzad, after being rescued as a puppy by founder and former Royal Marine Sgt. Pen Farthing.<\/p>\n

Starting in 2007, Nowzad<\/a> aimed to keep Royal Marines and the strays they grew close to together during occupation in Afghanistan. The story began after Farthing became close to a dog that was being used for organized dog fighting.<\/p>\n

Now, the organization works to relocate animals and people in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

McCarthy spoke to the challenges Nowzad workers face in foreign lands, such as the deaths of animals after a tear gas attack and the Taliban\u2019s restriction on women working.<\/p>\n

Farthing discovered Roo under a table on the streets of Kabul. What appeared to be a front right leg deformity was really an underlying hip condition.<\/p>\n

An amputation was the best option for Roo. When she hit maturity as a 1-year-old, she underwent the surgery and was placed on the Nowzad adoption list.<\/p>\n

Having previously adopted a dog from the international organization, McCarthy said she was eager to secure a home for Roo in San Juan County.<\/p>\n

\"Roo
Roo stands in Kabul, Afghanistan, before making her flight to the U.S. (Courtesy of Anne McCarthy)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Anne
Anne McCarthy sits with Jeeves, a Kabul rescue, in December 2017. Jeeves was McCarthy\u2019s first Nowzad rescue. (Courtesy of Anne McCarthy)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

McCarthy said she did not grow up with animals because her mother was dedicated to a neat house. As an adult, McCarthy has dedicated time and space to rescuing cats and dogs.<\/p>\n

Her first cat was rescued from a brush fire at the upper Fruitland Chapter House.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a several-acre fire, and all of a sudden we hear this pitiful meow and we found her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She now has three dogs and one cat.<\/p>\n

Jeeves was the first dog she adopted dog from Nowzad, after receiving an email about his listing in 2016, McCarthy said.<\/p>\n

The cost to transport a dog was $4,000, but thanks to a Nowzad trustee, the costs were covered, and in 2017, McCarthy and her son drove to California to pick up Jeeves.<\/p>\n

Jeeves was full of energy, sleeping most the day during the car ride but staying awake at night because of the time change.<\/p>\n

Initially when Jeeves arrived, he suffered from night terrors. When McCarthy returns home, no matter how long she\u2019s been out of the house, Jeeves will follow her around for some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I go out to the garage to throw in some laundry, he gets this worried look like \u2018Where are you going?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jeeves had a broken leg before his adoption.<\/p>\n

\"McCarthy
McCarthy talks to Roo after noticing her timid nature on Feb. 16 in Fruitland. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Roo was transported from Kabul to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for a few hours then flown to a pet hotel in Amsterdam. She received care there before making the 13-hour flight to the U.S.<\/p>\n

There was a wait for Roo\u2019s health paperwork, but once it was time to meet each other, McCarthy said it was a joyous moment.<\/p>\n

With three legs, Roo would occasionally whimper because of phantom pain. Now she sees a veterinarian once a year with the only instruction to keep her weight regulated.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s got good muscle development in the other upper front leg,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n

Roo got her name from the kangaroo-like jump she has when walking. When she runs, there is a nice stride with no indication of the missing leg.<\/p>\n

Those who may question McCarthy\u2019s decision to adopt from overseas, rather than locally, will be met with the tales of the many animals she has brought into her home from the San Juan County over the years.<\/p>\n

As a veteran herself, she said Nowzad\u2019s military influenced her support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a real sucker for critters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Roo
Roo has grown to be territorial with her fellow Nowzad rescue dog, Jeeves, and will bark at any vehicle passing their home. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>Alx Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

her a forever home leaving a war-torn territory <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1240,1222,155,799,28,1241],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aztec","tag-bloomfield","tag-education","tag-farmington","tag-headlines","tag-kirtland"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80636,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29118\/revisions\/80636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29118"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}