LONDON, England (CNN) -- His life has never been easy. Born into poverty and war, his ears and tail were chopped off when he was just a few months old in preparation for dog-fighting. He escaped to find a better life, only to be trapped in lonely, sterile quarantine for six months. Bear plays for the first time out of quarantine after coming to Britain from Afghanistan. But all that changed Monday when Bear the dog stepped out of British quarantine and through the doors of a London animal shelter. "He's absolutely a loving dog," said former British Royal Marine Paul "Penny" Farthing, who helped bring Bear to England. "He just loves people. It's a good thing he was brought back to the U.K. when he was quite young, so he's never gone through having to fend for himself in the street and be made to dogfight."
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Bear the dog was born into poverty, had ears and tail chopped off for dogfighting
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Unknown soldier in Afghanistan first found Bear last year
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Royal Marines made preparations with company and locals to transport dogs
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Marine: "It shows that the people of Afghanistan and us, we can work together"
@placeholder's story may be unique, but he is certainly not alone.
Instead, the dogs had to be tied with ropes, the @placeholder way, and the puppies had to be stashed in small crates -- in this case, a bird cage.