After three tours of duty, a Marine Corps veteran saves a four-legged life when he adds a last-chance dog to his military family. Our thanks to Fernando for sharing their story with us.

My name is Fernando and my family and I live in Southern California on Camp Pendleton. I am active duty in the Marine Corps. My wife and I have two little girls ages two and four who love animals. I figured it was the perfect time to add a member to our family since I am not deploying and will be home for the next two to three years. So what a better time then now.

I joined the Marine Corps in 2006 and have been at Camp Pendleton since then. I am in the infantry and have been deployed three times. My last deployment from Afghanistan ended in April 2011. As of now I am non-deployable. Just spending time with my family and taking a break from the fleet.

We adopted Ellie through Rancho Coastal Humane Society and it wasn’t until a few days later my wife learned about Pets for Patriots. So she made some calls and we were entered in this program even after we had adopted Ellie. Everyone was really nice and helpful. Knowing there are programs like this is really nice. Random people helping out the military and their families. Showing their appreciation.

Since we first laid eyes on Ellie we knew she was the one.

Ellie has been nothing but great for all of us. She gets along GREAT with our girls. Follows us everywhere. She just wants to be by us even if we are not even doing anything. Adopting was a great idea for us. Ellie came crate and potty trained, which made everything that much easier for us. She became part of the family in no time. Since we first laid eyes on Ellie we knew she was the one.