老狗和老兵在一起更好

老狗和老兵在一起更好

A longtime Marine in Vietnam, Detroit veteran Greg Brabaw was living at home with no family and few friends when someone reached out to the Vet Friends Foundation organization (originally called One Last Treat) on his behalf. They thought Brabaw might be a good candidate for the group's program pairing vets with senior dogs looking for homes. Soon, the grizzled Brabaw met Pops, a little Chihuahua.

作为一名在越南服役多年的海军陆战队老兵，底特律老兵格雷格·布拉博住在家里，没有家人和几个朋友，这时有人代表他联系了兽医朋友基金会。他们认为Brabaw可能是一个很好的候选人，该组织的项目是将兽医与寻找家的老狗配对。很快，头发花白的布拉巴遇到了波普，一只小吉娃娃。

Greg Brabaw and Pops enjoy a sunny moment together. (Photo: Mike Walzak/Vet Friends Foundation)

"Greg was really all alone. When we brought him Pops, he basically opened up to us and told us how much Pops allowed him to think about something other than his own suffering" Joel Rockey, the founder of Vet Friends, tells MNN. "They are pretty much best friends now."

格雷格真的很孤独。当我们给它买棒棒糖的时候，它基本上对我们敞开了心扉，告诉我们棒棒糖能让它在痛苦之外思考很多事情。”“他们现在差不多是最好的朋友了。”

The nonprofit, which got started in the summer of 2016, hunts for senior dogs looking to live out the rest of their lives with love and attention. A special program under the group's umbrella finds the dogs homes with veterans and then pays all the pets' health bills.

该非盈利组织成立于2016年夏天，专门寻找那些希望带着爱和关心度过余生的老年犬。在这个组织的保护伞下，有一个特别的项目，就是把这些狗和退伍军人一起送回家，然后支付所有宠物的健康费用。

Rockey came up with the idea not long after spending five years in the Navy in Iraq and Afghanistan and returning home. He wanted to focus his energy on something he felt passionate about, and he happened upon an old pug in a snowstorm. The dog was blind, deaf and injured, but Rockey took him home and named him Lurch.

罗基在伊拉克和阿富汗的海军服役五年，回国后不久就有了这个想法。他想把精力集中在他感兴趣的事情上，他在暴风雪中遇到了一只老哈巴狗。这只狗又瞎，又聋，还受了伤，但罗基把它带回家，给它起名叫勒奇。

"He only lived for three more months, but we gave him a pretty awesome three more months," Rockey says. "I felt really compelled to gear my energy towards animals and how to make their lives better. I liked being there in their last moments, so I called my vet buddies and they were down with the idea."

罗基说:“他只多活了三个月，但我们给了他相当棒的三个月。”“我真的觉得有必要把我的精力放在动物身上，以及如何让它们的生活变得更好。我喜欢在它们生命的最后一刻待在那里，所以我打电话给我的兽医伙伴，他们接受了这个想法。”

Homes

家庭

Veteran Dave Kidder recently adopted his new pal, Peggy Sue. (Photo: Vet Friends Foundation)

Originally, the team planned to bring treats to senior dogs that were about to be euthanized in animal shelters. But shelters didn't want to call attention to the last hours of those dogs, so they had to formulate a new game plan.

最初，这个团队计划给即将在动物收容所被实施安乐死的高龄狗狗们带去食物。但是收容所不想让人们注意到这些狗最后的几个小时，所以他们必须制定一个新的计划。

"We try to pull animals that will be good companion animals ... relaxed and laid-back and not too much going on healthwise," Rockey says. "Maybe they're starting to go downhill a little bit but not knocking on the door." That way the dogs might be with their adopters for at least a few years, he says.

“我们试着拉那些会成为好伙伴的动物……放松，悠闲，不做太多有害健康的事情，”罗基说。“也许他们开始走下坡路了，但没有预示。”他说，这样的话，这些狗可能会和收养它们的人在一起至少几年。

There are currently working with about 30 dog/veteran teams. Supporters often donate to help pay their bills.

目前有大约30只狗/经验丰富的团队在工作。支持者经常捐款来支付他们的账单。

Rockey's own rescue dog, Bandit, was more than 16 years old. (Photo: Vet Friends Foundation)

Rockey says the benefits to the dogs is obvious; they get homes instead of being overlooked. But the benefit to the veterans is unmeasurable.

Rockey说对狗的好处是显而易见的;他们得到了家，而不是被忽视。但是对退伍军人的好处是不可估量的。

"The biggest thing is self importance. As a vet myself, I think veterans, when they get out of the military, aren’t asked to do anything anymore," Rockey says. "They start losing self importance. Everyone is thanking them, but they're not being asked to do anything. When they're taking care of a senior animal, they're needed and it creates a new sense of value in their life."

“最重要的是自我重要性。我自己也是一名兽医，我认为退伍军人一旦退伍，就不会再被要求做任何事情。他们开始失去自我重要性。每个人都在感谢他们，但他们没有被要求做任何事。当他们照顾年老的动物时，他们被需要，这为他们的生活创造了一种新的价值感。”