'They're My Family': How An LI Marine Was Reunited With His Pets

MERRICK, NY — When Sgt. Matt Hulse was deployed to Bahrain in 2017, the Merrick resident was expecting a lot of things. But what he didn't expect was the relationship that he would develop with two kittens who came to his base.

Feral cats were common in the area where Hulse was stationed, and they were ignored for the most part. But there was one kitten that was exceptionally good at pulling at Hulse's heartstrings and getting the Marine to share food. Hulse said he was hesitant at first to interact with the cat for fear it might have a spreadable illness. But that fear quickly abated.

"I would sit out there with him at night and he would sit in my lap and we'd hang out," Hulse said. "And he'd catch bugs. Then his sister had come around. They were the only two survivors from their litter. He would let her eat. He was a very good brother."

Hulse named the cats Prince and Isa. They became his companions at the base, spending all their time with him. When he was sent to Africa for a month, he had people at the base look after them for him. When he returned, he realized how much he had missed them. It was the first time in seven months he hadn't spent all day, every day with Prince and Isa. And that was when he realized he needed to get them back to America with him somehow when his deployment was over.

He started researching, and was connected to Operation Baghdad Pups, an outreach service of SPCA International. Operation Baghdad Pups (which has expanded to areas outside of Baghdad and to animals other than pups) helps those in the armed forces adopt the animals they make connections with while overseas.

"It was a leap of faith for Matthew to apply," said Meredith Ayan, the executive director of SPCA International. "He has to put a tremendous amount of faith in us that when he says goodbye to those cats, he's going to see them again in the US."

Operation Baghdad Pups has connections all over the world to help move animals. Luckily for Hulse, his case was a rather simple one. He was able to bring Prince and Isa to a local vet who worked with the organization. The vet gave the cats vaccinations and boarded them for a month to make sure they were not sick. SPCA International then arranged flights for the cats, and then Hulse was able to pick them up at the airport.

The process took more than a month, but it reunited Hulse with his two best friends.

"They slept with me that night," he said. "They ate fine. It's been pretty perfect. They're the sweetest cats in the world. There was no adjustment period at all."

Ayan said that Hulse's experience was typical, but that the organization always works hard to reunite pets and people. Sometimes, that can be extremely difficult. There are sometimes only hours to get an animal off a base and to someone who can care for it. And the organization has to pull strings and work with people overseas to get it done.

"We've done this over 1,000 times now over the last 12 years, and what we hear every time is that it would have been leaving like a member of my family behind," Ayan said. "Or like how we bond to our pets here, but it's an even more intimate bonding scenario. We often hear it's a little piece of normalcy in everything they're going through."

Operation Baghdad Pups has expanded over the years, and now also offers services to contractors who are stationed overseas as well. The application to apply for the program is three pages, and anyone on active duty is eligible. With Veterans Day approaching, the organization is encouraging service members with animals overseas to apply.

Three years on, Prince and Isa have adapted well to their lives in America. They're still with Hulse, and live with him now in his apartment in New York City as he attends school.

"They're my family," he said. "They're the best thing that ever happened to me."