Editor's note: For security reasons, full names and information that identifies precisely where a solider is serving in Afghanistan are not publishable unless given permission by Canada's media liaison office, which can take several days. Since Castanet wanted to get this story out as soon as possible, we have chosen to run the story without full names.

A West Kelowna couple is trying desperately to raise money to rescue a puppy currently in Afghanistan.

Andrew, who works and lives in West Kelowna, says his fiancé is currently serving as a medic near Kandahar. Andrew says she and her platoon came across a month-old puppy one day when it wandered into a camp kitchen a few months ago.

A Facebook page has been started to help drive donations to pay to bring the puppy home. "Guts was originally rescued by an American platoon south of Kandahar city," information on the page states.

"When it was time for them to move out it was decided by their chain of command that they could not take Guts with them.

"Lucky for him we happened to be in the camp for the day. Guts wandered into the kitchen tent and, not to some peoples liking, we fed him alot of bacon. He ate so much that his stomach was bloated (hence the name Guts)."

Andrew and his fiancé are hoping to rescue the puppy to bring it to Canada, but the price is extreme - about $3,000 CND.

Andrew says leaving Guts behind gives him little chance of survival, noting that in Afghanistan, dogs are considered dirty creatures and can be treated very inhumanely.

The money is being raised through Nowzad Dogs, an internationally recognized charity (registration No. 1119185) dedicated to rescuing dogs from Afghanistan and promoting animal welfare in the country.

Now three to four months old, Guts' time is running out as the platoon's time of duty is up soon. So far, about $1,300 CND has been raised towards his rescue. He will apparently live at the base in Shiloh, MB.

"Guts is still a member of our platoon. He is between three and four months old and everyone is hoping to get him back to Canada as soon as possible."