Service member and The Dalles resident Jordan Anderson, with the help of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) International’s Patriot Pets program, was reunited with Boogie, a cat Jordan bonded with while deployed overseas in Syria.
Boogie now lives with Jordan Anderson in The Dalles, along with his two new siblings: Koda, Anderson’s rescue dog, and fellow cat Cheese. Boogie and Anderson met while Anderson was working as a military contractor in Syria.
"Boogie began to show up every day, eventually sleeping in their tent. While affectionate with everyone, Boogie and Anderson formed a bond, the cat often following him around, hanging out while he worked and sleeping on him."
Service member and The Dalles resident Jordan Anderson, with the help of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) International’s Patriot Pets program, was reunited with Boogie, a cat Jordan bonded with while deployed overseas in Syria.
THE DALLES — Service member and The Dalles resident Jordan Anderson was on a six-month deployment in Syria when he met Boogie the cat.
“I was there for six months, and he was with me for five of it,” Anderson said. “… And then the last four, four-and-a-half, is when him and I really hung out every day.
“He’s quite the character,” he said.
A military contractor, Anderson was working as a mechanic and pilot, flying Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs). Formerly in the Army, Anderson has worked as a contractor for the better part of a decade.
“I’ve been to Afghanistan, Iraq, all over the Middle East. I’ve done teaching trips to the Philippines,” Anderson said. “I’ve been really honestly all over the world, but mainly as a pilot flying UAVs.”
When Anderson and Boogie first met, the cat looked to be about a month old, and was with what Anderson believed to be a sibling and their mother. After disappearing for about a month, Boogie eventually returned, this time alone.
“I started giving him some food, and everybody kind of loved on him and gave him food, and he started hanging out in the tent,” Anderson said.
Boogie began to show up every day, eventually sleeping in their tent. While affectionate with everyone, Boogie and Anderson formed a bond, the cat often following him around, hanging out while he worked and sleeping on him.
“I have a ton of pictures from when I was over there [of him] sleeping on my lap.
“It was an awesome experience. Deployments are always tough … there’s nothing like an animal to bring spirits up, bring morale up around base,” Anderson said.
When the end of his deployment drew near, Anderson knew he wanted to take Boogie home with him. With how close the two had become, Anderson knew he’d be worried about Boogie’s safety while away.
Boogie now lives with Jordan Anderson in The Dalles, along with his two new siblings: Koda, Anderson’s rescue dog, and fellow cat Cheese. Boogie and Anderson met while Anderson was working as a military contractor in Syria.
Contributed photo
“We were taking incoming over there. We went through several rocket attacks, suicide done attacks, and it was pretty scary for him,” Anderson said. “And so at that point, him and I were close enough that I’d be worried about him.”
Those stationed with Anderson offered help. He said that a site lead on base had taken a cat home with while on a previous deployment, and was able to offer Anderson assistance in who to contact in order to bring Boogie home. “Everybody knew he had a super strong bond with me,” he said.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) International, and its Patriot Pet’s program, Anderson was able to have Boogie flown from Syria to Iraq to be housed at a shelter until he could be transported to the United States.
SPCA International’s Patriot Pets program (formerly known as Operation Baghdad Pups), works to reunite veterans with animals they befriend and eventually adopt as their own from overseas. According to its website, the program has currently reunited more than 1,200 veterans from all military branches with their pets from countries including those in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Initially, Anderson’s plan was to send Boogie to Iraq on a helicopter with a friend of his who was heading home from deployment before he was, building the cat a cage for transport.
Boogie had different ideas. Overwhelmed by the noisy helicopter, the feline ended up bolting, escaping his homemade cage.
“It was a good thing that it had happened before and not in the helicopter, because that would have been chaos,” Anderson said. “We decided that it was probably best for him not to go in the helicopter because its so loud in there, and so chaotic, and he was just a kitten at the time.”
"Boogie began to show up every day, eventually sleeping in their tent. While affectionate with everyone, Boogie and Anderson formed a bond, the cat often following him around, hanging out while he worked and sleeping on him."
Contributed photo
Instead, Boogie was transported out of Syria with a litter of puppies that had been born on base and were being adopted by other service members. There was a bit of uncertainty surrounding the trip, however, both because of the failed helicopter trip, as well as Anderson’s deployment ending. He could not see Boogie off to Iraq before going home.
“When I left, there was a lot of uncertainty of whether how it was going to work because the helicopter trip hadn’t worked out.
"It was a sad day to leave and know that I still had to wait and be at the mercy of others to see everything through,” Anderson said.
Eventually, though, Anderson got a call telling him Boogie was getting on a flight to Iraq that night.
“I was like ‘Okay, this is really happening,’” Anderson said. “It was always something that we wanted to happen, but it was finally able to occur … it was like, ‘Alright, we did the hardest part getting him out of the country, and now he’s starting his journey home.’”
Through the SPCA, Anderson was able to receive weekly updates, photos and videos of Boogie while he was sheltered in Iraq to receive shots and undergo quarantine until he was released to be transported to the States.
“I went through them from day one, and they made sure that they were in constant contact, and they were the reason that it was able to happen,” Anderson said.
When Boogie arrived in Portland on June 15, it had been a couple of months since the two had last seen each other. When Anderson arrived at the airport to pick him up, he could hear Boogie’s excitement. “I could hear him meowing in the back, and as soon as he heard my voice he started going crazy in his kennel and I could tell he was getting really excited,” Anderson said.
Once Anderson got them back to his car, he let Boogie out of his cage, and the cat immediately began to love on him. “He recognized me right off the bat, so it was pretty cool … he definitely did not forget about me at all.”
Boogie now lives with Anderson in The Dalles, along with his two new siblings: Koda, Anderson’s rescue dog, and fellow cat Cheese.
“He hangs out and waits for me to get home every day so that he can come and terrorize [me],” Anderson joked.
Overall, Anderson wanted to extend his gratitude to the SPCA’s Patriot Pet’s program and their effort to get him and Boogie reunited. “They were eager to make sure that I could get Boogie home … without them then none of this would have been possible,” Anderson said. “The costs are insane, and with them, it was minimal costs on my part. They took care of him, made sure he was fed and watered and happy.
“We grew close together during a hard time, and to be able to get him home here to a safe place and out of such a hostile environment, that was just a really cool moment for me, and I’m very thankful.”
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