What Our military Sacrifices

In honor of Military Appreciation Month, we felt it was time to speak about the daily sacrifices our service men and women make to serve our country and protect our freedoms. They willingly put their lives on the line, spend months or years away from their loved ones, and deal with the mental effects of war long after it’s over. Missing the day-to-day tasks of catching their kid’s baseball game or snuggling with the family on the couch weighs heavy on their minds. Being absent from significant events like the birth of a child or a graduation ceremony brings a guilt they cannot undo. It’s all of these sacrifices and more for the men and women of our armed forces. Despite it all, they stand to serve their country proudly, and we are eternally grateful for them all.

In the order of sacrifices, our military personnel rotate through jobs every few years, causing them to uproot their lives and families and travel to distant places and foreign cultures. It’s hard on the parents and kids, and sometimes, it means a furry family member is left behind. That’s what happened to our Zeus.

Zeus was a part of a loving family his entire life. He was blessed with the love of his people, other dogs, cats, and children. He loves to love as much as he loves to play fetch. He was a once-in-a-lifetime dog for his family until the orders came.

Military orders are government documents stating where you will be stationed next. While most military personnel know where they will land due to months of job searching, nothing is official until the paperwork comes through in the form of orders. Zeus’s family found themselves with their orders in hand to a place where Zeus could not go.

It’s debilitating to lose a dog. Watching them drift off and sensing them crossing the rainbow bridge, looking for them around the house in their usual spots, or almost calling them to come freezes your heart for a few seconds and takes your breath away. Having to give up a dog you genuinely love due to life’s unexpected turns is precisely like that. Perhaps that’s why Zeus was surrendered by an intoxicated, weeping soldier who was too distraught to speak. We had to step in for Zeus and military families everywhere when we heard this story. These sacrifices are too much, and if we can give any source of comfort to the family or dog, we must.

Zeus is such an awesome dog. He’s still got plenty of life to live and proves that daily with his non-stop fetching sessions. If you have a ball, he is your new bestie. He’s healthy and happy at the sanctuary but needs his people again. His second chance at a family is coming. We can feel it.

Take time to thank a soldier this month for serving their country and for the sacrifices they make every day. The gesture may seem small, but it’s larger than life to a soldier who may have just returned from war and hasn’t seen their family in over a year, missed the birth of their child, or had to surrender their dog due to relocation. If we can bring some comfort to their hearts, that’s enough. 

To Zeus’s family, we’ll take good care of him and find him another best friend, but you’ll always be the first. Thank you for trusting us with your beloved pup.