Sadie the herding dog survived the war in Afghanistan only to be scooped up this summer by an animal welfare agency near North Bay, Ont.

It was a roundabout route that brought Sadie, originally rescued from an Afghan war zone by U.S. Navy SEAL Patrick Feeks, to Canada.

Feeks shipped her 11,700 kilometres to his home in Columbus, Mo., with the help of Puppy Rescue Mission, a group that helps members of the military.

Sadie is a sage koochee, a breed known to be gentle to its owners and suspicious of strangers.

When she didn’t get along with the Feeks’ family pet, Sadie was shipped another 1,440 kilometres, at Feeks’ expense, to the Laika Fund for Street Dogs, run by Rebecca Ashworth and her husband, Randy, on a five-hectare farm outside North Bay.

Feeks was killed in a helicopter crash on Aug. 16, 2012.

“Sadie was beloved by Feeks and the other sailors who saved her,” the Ashworths said in a statement. “She had adopted his unit and followed them on patrols of up to 10 miles. She warned them of intruders, showing them the loyalty she is full of.”

But last month Sadie was taken into custody by the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

An investigation is ongoing into the treatment of Sadie and other dogs at the Ashworths’ farm, the OSPCA’s Alison Cross said.

“We did receive a complaint and we are doing an investigation,” Cross said. “We were required to remove the animals to remove them from the stress they were in.”

She did not provide further details regarding the nature of the complaint.

All the dogs are in the care of the OSPCA except for one, which was put down on the advice of a veterinarian.

Lynn Perrier, of Reform Advocates for Animal Welfare, said no cleanup orders or charges for infractions were given when the dogs were seized.

“(The Ashworths) complied with all orders that the OSPCA has ever given them,” Perrier said. “The Ashworths had promised to care for this beautiful dog for the rest of her life.”

“Sadie is now a prisoner of a different war,” Perrier said. “She is in a cage at an undisclosed location being kept from the Ashworths.”

Perrier said the dog the OSPCA killed was the Ashworths’ family pet, Elsa, who was 14 and suffered from cancer. “They thought they would get another summer with Elsa before she was put down.”

The action will be reviewed next week by the Animal Care Review Board, Cross said.

Perrier said the Ashworths have a good reputation for animal care and have run a refuge for 20 years.

“No charges have been laid. They had 71 dogs but they also have a 12-acre farm,” Perrier said, adding that 35 of those dogs were either waiting to be transferred to other rescues or were adopters.

Rebecca Ashworth said Sadie was doing “wonderfully” with them until she was seized last month, and that the couple provided a loving home for all of their dogs.

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“When some of the men in his unit adopted Sadie’s babies and sent them home to the U.S., Patrick was determined that Sadie would not be left behind,” Ashworth said. “She is particularly fond of Randy and our son Mike, who, with their beards, may remind her of Pat, whom she loved dearly.”

The Ashworths don’t know where Sadie and the other dogs are and can’t visit them, Perrier said. She said she fears the dogs have already been destroyed.

Correction – August 18, 2015: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Patrick Feeks died on Aug.17, 2012. As well, the Ashworths permanently adopted Sadie. The article mistakenly said Feeks’ intent was to reunite with Sadie once his tour of duty was over.