ALBANY (AP) -- A wounded combat dog will be reunited in retirement with the ex-Marine handler he was wounded with in Iraq.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says the Air Force has agreed to release Sgt. Rex into the care of former Cpl. Megan Leavey of Rockland County, just north of New York City.
Schumer had intervened when the Purple Heart recipient was first denied in her effort to adopt Sgt. Rex in 2007.
Now Rex is 10 years old and can't continue his military service, but Schumer said bureaucracy still stood in the way of the adoption.
Leavey is an animal handler in civilian life. She was injured with Rex in 2006 while trying to disarm an explosive. They convalesced together.
Rex is credited with saving lives and uncovering explosives that saved more.
A petition has been circulating online to reunite the dog with its handler.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
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