( CNN ) -- An animal rescue group on Sunday picked up a U.S. soldier 's adopted dog from Iraq , ending the soldier 's weeks-long struggle to send the animal to her Minnesota home . Sgt . Gwen Beberg adopted Ratchet after soldiers rescued him from a burning pile of trash in May . Operation Baghdad Pups , which said the U.S. military prevented its first attempt to take Ratchet the dog on October 1 , picked up the animal in Baghdad with military clearance and flew it to Kuwait on Sunday . The dog is expected to be flown to Washington on Monday , and if a veterinarian determines it is healthy , sent to Sgt . Gwen Beberg 's home state on Wednesday , Baghdad Pups publicist Larry Garrison said . Beberg , who adopted the dog after soldiers rescued it from a burning trash pile in May , tried to have the group fly Ratchet to the United States on October 1 as her deployment neared an end . But the military , which prohibits soldiers from adopting pets abroad and bringing them to the United States , confiscated the animal after Beberg put it on a convoy bound for Baghdad Airport , according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , which runs OBP . Ratchet and Beberg , 28 , drew the attention of thousands of people who signed two online petitions -- linked through the SPCA 's Web site -- urging the military to let Ratchet go to the United States . The military cleared OBP to take Ratchet on Wednesday , but not in time for the group 's flight from Baghdad that day , the SPCA said . On Sunday , private security contractors took Ratchet from a base to the airport , where OBP -- which works with soldiers to help them bring adopted animals home -- put Ratchet on the charter flight to Kuwait , Garrison said . Northwest Airlines will donate the flights from Kuwait to Minnesota , Garrison said . The SPCA said Ratchet helped Beberg deal with her Iraq deployment , which started in September 2007 and is scheduled to end in November . `` She was absolutely miserable in the war and was really struggling to keep going every day . Ratchet turned it around for her , '' SPCA spokeswoman Stephanie Scroggs said last week . Beberg 's mother , Patricia Beberg , in a statement released by the SPCA , said Ratchet `` was the savior of her [ daughter 's ] sanity '' in Iraq . SPCA representatives said the military euthanizes some animals that it confiscates , and that Gwen Beberg worried that Ratchet would be killed . Beberg was thrilled to hear last week that the military would let OBP take Ratchet , the SPCA said . `` Your persistence and amazing work has astonished me throughout this whole thing , '' Gwen Beberg said in an e-mail to the SPCA , according to the society . Scroggs said one of Beberg 's friends helped spread the news about Ratchet through blogs . One of the petitions , which had more than 65,000 signatures as of Sunday night , was started by a blogger , Scroggs said . The SPCA says although active-duty soldiers are n't allowed to adopt animals in the Middle East , many soldiers befriend animals in the course of their service there . Garrison said the program relies on donations , saying it generally costs $ 3,000 to $ 4,000 to bring a servicemember 's animal to the United States . `` This is n't a one-time story This is a program making a difference for our soldiers , '' Garrison said .
U.S. soldier adopted dog in Iraq ; military prohibits such adoption . Military took dog during soldier 's first attempt to send it home , group says . Dog helped soldier cope with her deployment , group says . Comment: