Huntington Station Man Adopts Dog He Found While Serving Overseas

HUNTINGTON STATION, NY — Against all odds, Marshmallow, a dog from the country of Georgia, has found a cozy home in Huntington Station in time for the holidays. U.S. Service member Patrick Brady, who befriended the female pup, shared how he met Marshmallow, as well as the harrowing journey to bring her home.

Earlier this year, Marshmallow wandered onto a United States Military base in Georgia where Brady found her. He immediately formed a bond with Marshmallow, according to a news release from Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) International.

Brady had begun his second month of deployment when he heard a fellow soldier say a puppy had come onto the base.

"I went outside to check and I was absolutely in love with her," Brady said via news release.

Brady went out the following night and bought dog food for Marshmallow. On her fourth day, she left the base, which left Brady really upset, he said. However, the pup strolled back onto the base a week later — completely covered in mud and dirt. Brady scooped her up and took her to be washed.

"From then on I would always keep as much of an eye on her as I could while also having to do my job there," he said.

Brady was concerned that the other dogs would not like Marshmallow, as their job is to keep stray dogs off the base. Over time, she managed to form a bond with her fellow canines to the point she was safe around them.

"I got her shots and everything completed just when we got locked down and quarantined at our base due to a COVID-19 scare in the early months around the world," Brady said. "That is when our bond was really strong, and she was always around me or my work area."

Marshmallow loved to play all the time and would throw a "really cute" fit when no one else had time to join her, Brady recalled.

Just before the lock down, Brady was emailing SPCA International to try and organize a means to bring Marshmallow home to Long Island with him. He knew he had to bring her home, and his family reaffirmed his feeling.

Brady noted that Lori from SPCA International was instrumental in informing him of the process. The coronavirus outbreak only threw several monkey wrenches into the plan.

"Once the pandemic started, the airports shut down, and we had no idea when the time would be near that we could bring the dog to the airport on top of getting her last shots from the vet in town that was also closed," Brady said.

Once the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, Marshmallow got her shots. After a couple of delays, her flight home was booked.

"Easy enough it was the same flight home for me from deployment," Brady said. "The day we were leaving I stayed with [Marshmallow] all night and barely slept to make sure she was alright and ready for her big flight the next two days."

However, Brady and Marshmallow were not out of the woods.

As he was trying to get his pet-to-be through the very end of the airport process, he was told his crate was no good because it didn't have plastic screws in its sides to hold it together. Brady called the SPCA International team that kept him calm and tried to do whatever it could to make it work.

"At this point I was going to different parts of the airport practically begging anyone who worked there if they had any small screws or anything so I could put it in the crate. No luck."

It came to the final time Brady could get through security and customs before he missed his flight, and the issue was still not resolved. He would have to leave Marshmallow behind, possibly having one of the guys from base come and pick her up if she couldn’t be let on the plane.

As Brady got through customs, he got a call from SPCA International stating Marshmallow would be let through, and all he had to do was go through bagging. Once he got through, he was brought to the back to help load her onto the plane.

"At that time, I got a call from a SPCAI team member saying, ‘She’s on the plane’ and we both just burst into tears after such a long morning and even longer process, finally being done," Brady said. "Still brings tears to my eyes now thinking about it."

Lucas of the SPCA International team was instrumental in making sure Marshmallow got to Huntington Station as Brady had to go to another state to finish the last of his deployment process before heading home.

Marshmallow now lives with Brady, along with his two other dogs: his Chow Chow named Bear and Smokey the Mastiff.

"She loves it here along with both of my parents who spoiled her while I was still on my way home," Brady said. "She still loves to play and is the funniest little dog, and I love her so much."

Brady said none of this would have been possible had it not been for the team at SPCA International.

"They are a different kind of people. I’ve never met individuals who are just so kind and genuine. It makes me happy there are people like them in the world and I mean every single bit of that. Anything to keep this organization and selfless people going would make me happiest. I can’t thank them enough even now months later after it was all over and just have the memories now."

SPCA International is a global animal welfare organization with a mission that is simple but vast: Advance the safety and well-being of animals. Through outreach, rescue and education programs, SPCA International spearheads lifesaving initiatives and assists grassroots animal activists worldwide.