PAWS OF WAR – Bubba the Cat

Bubba the Cat, a war cat in the Middle East has made it to the US, or will do in due course, thanks to Sgt. Rode, PAWS OF WAR and the generous public who donated sufficient funds quickly to allow the relocation to happen. And the military deserves praise too for allowing the event to happen.

This is one of many stories in which the organisation PAWS OF WAR has been involved in rescuing and removing a cat or dog from a war zone, this time in the Middle East. The organisation relies upon the public to donate sufficient funds to bring a cat or dog from the war zone to America and the public invariably rises to the occasion.

However, the story starts with the soldier who forms a very close bond with the animal that needs rescuing and that person, in this instance, is Army Sergeant Rode. She had been deployed to the Middle East. We don’t know which country, perhaps for security reasons. Also we don’t have a good picture of her the same reasons. But we do have a good picture of Bubba the cat in question.

Bubba about to enjoy a new life in the US thanks to Sgt Rode and PAWS OF WAR
Bubba about to enjoy a new life in the US thanks to Sgt Rode and PAWS OF WAR. We have to praise the military too for allowing it all to happen. Photo: PAWS OF WAR.

Sgt. Rode has a good heart. That must be obvious to any reader of this story. We don’t have a lot of detail as to how she bumped into Bubba but she saw him and he was injured, frail, bloody and frightened as he ran away from everyone. She knew that she had to help and take him away from a place where he had to fight too hard to survive.

She left food out for him and waited nearby to make sure that he ate it. Gradually he grew to trust her and allowed her to sit near him when he ate his food.

Finally Sergeant Rode was able to touch him and also able to discover the true extent of his injuries. She was horrified by the seeing new wounds on old but despite his discomfort he began to purr, no doubt revelling in the affection being given to him, perhaps for the first time in years, if ever.

Bubba became Sergeant Rode’s joy and the story tells me that she received a lot of pleasure from interacting with him and it must have helped her deal with the difficulties of being deployed in the Middle East with the inherent danger of the job.

A big hurdle arrived – which I guess it always happens for deployed military personnel under these circumstances – in that she was being sent home and she decided that she could not leave Bubba behind. She sought the help of PAWS OF WAR to cover the costs and the costs are high one way and another. There are complicated logistical problems, paperwork, and air travel to organise et cetera. You can imagine how difficult it is which is why this organisation is so useful.

Yahoo.com reported on April 7, 2021 that Sergeant Rode needed help bringing Bubba to her home in the US. And amazingly PAWS found the money through donations quite quickly because their website tells me that the generous public have saved Bubba. They say on their website: “Army Sergeant Rode is so grateful to everyone who made her dream of saving the cat she loves so much Bubba, come true. Your support saves soldiers from having to suffer the trauma of leaving their beloved rescued pet behind.”

Bubba has that jowly look of an unneutered male cat. I don’t know whether he’s been neutered yet. He is a ginger tabby with mackerel stripes. A handsome fellow. Sergeant Rode said: “He has been a wonderful companion and provides me so much comfort when I need it most. I could not leave this cat behind to suffer and die. He trusts me, and I won’t let him down”. She did not and I’m sure everybody would wish both her and Bubba a happy future together.

Postscript: There must be a question as to what happens once Bubba is taken to America and Sergeant Rode is also back in America. Might she be redeployed again? Might she be travelling to a different base in America? I do not know the answers to these questions but if they are answered in the affirmative then what happens to Bubba? If she’s redeployed to the Middle East again or some other war zone she would have to leave Bubba behind in the care of somebody else and it might be four months so, it seems to me, that there are further obstacles to overcome unless Sergeant Rode had plans to resign from the military on her return.

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