It’s no secret that our volunteers go above and beyond to take care of service members, and their pets, but Susan Sackett recently took the role of volunteer boarder very seriously, taking in Chaos, a 140-pound Great Dane for two years!
She loves the breed, having one of her own, and considers helping service members important. She says, “because of all the work the service members do, and the life they put on the line for us, it’s the least I can do for them.”
When Rich Rain got orders to South Korea, he found out that taking the family dog, Chaos, with them would cost more than $7,000, a cost that they could not bear. He, and his wife, Nikki, were grateful to find Dogs on Deployment, and Susan Sackett.
Susan kept in touch with the Rains, while they did their overseas tour, and leading up to their recent reunion, the Rains sent Susan some of their clothes, so Chaos could reacquaint herself with their scent.
Read more about this story, and see a video of their reunion on WESH:Orlando.
While Chaos was overjoyed to see her family again, the reunion was bittersweet for the two-legged parties at the scene. Susan has cared for Chaos most of her life, and while happy to see her reunited with his family, it’s tough to see her go. Even Rich felt a pang of guilt, taking her away from Susan.
Still, Nikki says that she couldn’t be more grateful for Dogs on Deployment, and that without the program, their family would not have been kept whole.
