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CNN Saturday Morning News

Patriotic Pets: Group Matches People With Military Pets

Aired January 18, 2003 - 09:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As you might imagine, it's not only people who are affected by the U.S. military moving out. Pets can get caught in the mix as well.
Now there's an organization that places military pets in temporary homes while their owners serve their country.

Joining us is Ann King of Patriotic Pets, and Brian Pruett, who is a foster parent taking care of Nikita. And she's just the sweetest.

BRIAN PRUETT, FOSTER PARENT OF PET: Oh, she's a good dog.

COLLINS: She is a very good dog.

We also have, by phone, now, Nikita's owner -- or one of, this is a couple, the Listers -- but we have Major John Lister now on the phone. He is stationed in Hawaii.

Major Lister, can you hear me?

MAJ. JOHN LISTER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Yes, I can. Good morning.

COLLINS: Are you excited to see your puppy?

LISTER: Oh, it's great. I just -- hard to believe that she's there. And Brian, I'd like to say thanks to you very much.

PRUETT: Oh, no, problem, John. She's been great.

LISTER: Great.

COLLINS: John, can you see her right now?

LISTER: Yes, I can.

COLLINS: Because she's really bummed out without you. She -- it's a hard-knock life.

LISTER: She's a wonderful dog, she really is.

COLLINS: Well, I'm glad.

Now, listen, let's get to kind of the beginning of how all of this works. I know when you go to other countries -- obviously he's only in Hawaii -- but when you go to other countries, there are quarantines for animals. Why couldn't the dog go with them? There are just not facilities for the animals? Or how -- what usually happens when the dog first comes to you, and then you find someone like Brian?

ANN KING, PATRIOTIC PETS: Well, most of the time the military family is actually being deployed overseas, or the military person. And generally, they only have maybe a week, two weeks' notice, so we typically will get a call at the last moment saying, I've got to ship out next week, do you have somebody that might be able to help?

And we keep a database of people that we can help them match, we actually give them the name of people, and they -- the military family works with the guardians to find the best match of -- does it need to be an outside dog, does it need to be inside dog, and so forth.

COLLINS: Right. So you really do your homework on what kind of family you might be looking for. And Ann, tell me quickly, how this all came about. It was September 11, wasn't it?

KING: After September 11, Leah Spitzer (ph) had the idea that a lot of these military folks were really not going to have anything to do with their pets, and it seemed only fair, if they were going to go and put their life on the line, that they should be able to come home to their loving pets. And so we started putting this together.

COLLINS: I'm sure it really eases their minds. They've got a lot of anxiety, probably, deploying, maybe if it's the first time, the last thing they want to worry about is their dearly beloved pet.

So Brian Pruett, you are the man who is helping out with Nikita. And you have two dogs of your own already, so...

PRUETT: Yes, I do.

COLLINS: ... this is quite an undertaking, I would imagine.

PRUETT: Well, it's interesting. I mean, it -- you know, in the process, we were in the middle of gutting a house, and we got the call. And this was a little bit of an unusual situation. The original home had fallen through. And Brenda, John's wife, had called, and they had 48 hours before they were packing up and moving out of the country.

COLLINS: That's not long.

PRUETT: And -- No. So we got a call saying, Please, you know, would you be able to do this? And I thought, well, you know, got two, going through renovation, what's another one?

COLLINS: Hey, what's another one, yes.

PRUETT: I mean, you know, so she's done really well.

COLLINS: Major Lister, let me just ask you, how did you feel about this? I mean, was this just a huge relief to you? LISTER: Oh, tremendous relief. We were really blessed that there is an association like this with Patriotic Pets. And my wife had met with Brian and saw that it would be -- and we actually took Nikita there -- actually just a few hours before I -- or before she left, and saw there was a good match. And we were just really excited.

And it's great to see her on TV now, she's a...

COLLINS: Do you think she's going to come back home to you?

LISTER: Well, I don't know, she looks so comfortable there on CNN that I'm hoping that when we do get back, she'll be able to come back with us. You know, we -- she's like a child to us.

COLLINS: I'm sure she will. I'm sure she will.

So how did you find Patriotic Pets? Was this something that the military directed you to, or did you find it online, or how did you find them?

LISTER: No, actually it was a friend of ours had -- I was already deployed, I was activated as a reservist, and my wife had called around to different people. And a friend of ours had mentioned Patriotic Pets, and then Brenda called the association and found out that they could actually take -- I was just really surprised that they could take her in the last minute like that.

COLLINS: Right, right.

LISTER: So like I say, we're really blessed that there is an association like Patriotic Pets. And we're just happy to see her on TV now.

COLLINS: That's right. She looks pretty darn good. I think she's eating well.

LISTER: She looks like she is.

PRUETT: Yes, food's not a problem here.

COLLINS: Food's not a problem.

Will you do this again? I mean, has this just been real easy? Will you do it with another kind of dog next time around, possibly?

PRUETT: I would say definitely. I mean, you know, 9/11, I was on a plane, and I grew up most of my life outside of the United States, where, at that point in time, you know, when you had a pet and you were in another country and it was time to move back, you left the pet.

COLLINS: yes.

PRUETT: And now a lot more adults are incorporating pets as part of their lives. And suddenly it's, Well, I've got to go in two weeks, and I know what to do with my house, and my money's taken care of by the bank, but what happens to the dog or the cat or the boa constrictor...

COLLINS: Sure, sure.

PRUETT: ... or whatever you have. So...

COLLINS: And do you take kids, too?

PRUETT: No, no.

COLLINS: Obviously not.

Great idea. Ann King, we are so glad to have you and your organization around. And I'm sure a lot of people will be looking to you should they become deployed, coming in the possibility of war with Iraq. You are possibly going to be a very busy woman, I would imagine.

KING: Well, we hope to be able to make sure that no pet goes -- has to go to a shelter.

COLLINS: All right. Guys, thanks for being here. Brian Pruett, Ann King with Patriotic Pets, and on the phone, Major John Lister, owner of this very, very shy, very uptight dog, Nikita. Good luck to you, major, and thanks for being here this morning.

LISTER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks again.

PRUETT: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 18, 2003 - 09:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As you might imagine, it's not only people who are affected by the U.S. military moving out. Pets can get caught in the mix as well.
Now there's an organization that places military pets in temporary homes while their owners serve their country.

Joining us is Ann King of Patriotic Pets, and Brian Pruett, who is a foster parent taking care of Nikita. And she's just the sweetest.

BRIAN PRUETT, FOSTER PARENT OF PET: Oh, she's a good dog.

COLLINS: She is a very good dog.

We also have, by phone, now, Nikita's owner -- or one of, this is a couple, the Listers -- but we have Major John Lister now on the phone. He is stationed in Hawaii.

Major Lister, can you hear me?

MAJ. JOHN LISTER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Yes, I can. Good morning.

COLLINS: Are you excited to see your puppy?

LISTER: Oh, it's great. I just -- hard to believe that she's there. And Brian, I'd like to say thanks to you very much.

PRUETT: Oh, no, problem, John. She's been great.

LISTER: Great.

COLLINS: John, can you see her right now?

LISTER: Yes, I can.

COLLINS: Because she's really bummed out without you. She -- it's a hard-knock life.

LISTER: She's a wonderful dog, she really is.

COLLINS: Well, I'm glad.

Now, listen, let's get to kind of the beginning of how all of this works. I know when you go to other countries -- obviously he's only in Hawaii -- but when you go to other countries, there are quarantines for animals. Why couldn't the dog go with them? There are just not facilities for the animals? Or how -- what usually happens when the dog first comes to you, and then you find someone like Brian?

ANN KING, PATRIOTIC PETS: Well, most of the time the military family is actually being deployed overseas, or the military person. And generally, they only have maybe a week, two weeks' notice, so we typically will get a call at the last moment saying, I've got to ship out next week, do you have somebody that might be able to help?

And we keep a database of people that we can help them match, we actually give them the name of people, and they -- the military family works with the guardians to find the best match of -- does it need to be an outside dog, does it need to be inside dog, and so forth.

COLLINS: Right. So you really do your homework on what kind of family you might be looking for. And Ann, tell me quickly, how this all came about. It was September 11, wasn't it?

KING: After September 11, Leah Spitzer (ph) had the idea that a lot of these military folks were really not going to have anything to do with their pets, and it seemed only fair, if they were going to go and put their life on the line, that they should be able to come home to their loving pets. And so we started putting this together.

COLLINS: I'm sure it really eases their minds. They've got a lot of anxiety, probably, deploying, maybe if it's the first time, the last thing they want to worry about is their dearly beloved pet.

So Brian Pruett, you are the man who is helping out with Nikita. And you have two dogs of your own already, so...

PRUETT: Yes, I do.

COLLINS: ... this is quite an undertaking, I would imagine.

PRUETT: Well, it's interesting. I mean, it -- you know, in the process, we were in the middle of gutting a house, and we got the call. And this was a little bit of an unusual situation. The original home had fallen through. And Brenda, John's wife, had called, and they had 48 hours before they were packing up and moving out of the country.

COLLINS: That's not long.

PRUETT: And -- No. So we got a call saying, Please, you know, would you be able to do this? And I thought, well, you know, got two, going through renovation, what's another one?

COLLINS: Hey, what's another one, yes.

PRUETT: I mean, you know, so she's done really well.

COLLINS: Major Lister, let me just ask you, how did you feel about this? I mean, was this just a huge relief to you? LISTER: Oh, tremendous relief. We were really blessed that there is an association like this with Patriotic Pets. And my wife had met with Brian and saw that it would be -- and we actually took Nikita there -- actually just a few hours before I -- or before she left, and saw there was a good match. And we were just really excited.

And it's great to see her on TV now, she's a...

COLLINS: Do you think she's going to come back home to you?

LISTER: Well, I don't know, she looks so comfortable there on CNN that I'm hoping that when we do get back, she'll be able to come back with us. You know, we -- she's like a child to us.

COLLINS: I'm sure she will. I'm sure she will.

So how did you find Patriotic Pets? Was this something that the military directed you to, or did you find it online, or how did you find them?

LISTER: No, actually it was a friend of ours had -- I was already deployed, I was activated as a reservist, and my wife had called around to different people. And a friend of ours had mentioned Patriotic Pets, and then Brenda called the association and found out that they could actually take -- I was just really surprised that they could take her in the last minute like that.

COLLINS: Right, right.

LISTER: So like I say, we're really blessed that there is an association like Patriotic Pets. And we're just happy to see her on TV now.

COLLINS: That's right. She looks pretty darn good. I think she's eating well.

LISTER: She looks like she is.

PRUETT: Yes, food's not a problem here.

COLLINS: Food's not a problem.

Will you do this again? I mean, has this just been real easy? Will you do it with another kind of dog next time around, possibly?

PRUETT: I would say definitely. I mean, you know, 9/11, I was on a plane, and I grew up most of my life outside of the United States, where, at that point in time, you know, when you had a pet and you were in another country and it was time to move back, you left the pet.

COLLINS: yes.

PRUETT: And now a lot more adults are incorporating pets as part of their lives. And suddenly it's, Well, I've got to go in two weeks, and I know what to do with my house, and my money's taken care of by the bank, but what happens to the dog or the cat or the boa constrictor...

COLLINS: Sure, sure.

PRUETT: ... or whatever you have. So...

COLLINS: And do you take kids, too?

PRUETT: No, no.

COLLINS: Obviously not.

Great idea. Ann King, we are so glad to have you and your organization around. And I'm sure a lot of people will be looking to you should they become deployed, coming in the possibility of war with Iraq. You are possibly going to be a very busy woman, I would imagine.

KING: Well, we hope to be able to make sure that no pet goes -- has to go to a shelter.

COLLINS: All right. Guys, thanks for being here. Brian Pruett, Ann King with Patriotic Pets, and on the phone, Major John Lister, owner of this very, very shy, very uptight dog, Nikita. Good luck to you, major, and thanks for being here this morning.

LISTER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks again.

PRUETT: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com