Couple finally gets to take one-eyed rescue dog from Iraq to their North Carolina home

ATLANTA - A North Carolina couple who has been fighting to get their newly adopted dog into the US from Iraq finally got to meet her Saturday.

Grace was rescued off the streets of northern Iraq. She was abused and only has one eye. 

The dog was the start of a new chapter of Coleman Nation and his wife.

"We lost our dog recently. We’ve grieved and we were ready to open our hearts again." Nation told FOX 5's Janice Yu in July. "She saw the post in Twitter. Someone looking for a home for a dog in Iraq and my wife was like that’s our dog."

The dog flew into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport a month ago but was unable to clear customs due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban on dogs from countries with a high risk for rabies.

Nation only learned about the problems when he drove from North Carolina to Atlanta to pick up Grace.

Coleman Nation and his wife finally get to take Grace, a one-eyed rescue dog from Iraq, to their North Carolina home on Aug. 14, 2021, after a month-long quarantine.  (FOX 5)

He said the paperwork Grace needed to enter the US wasn’t handed over in time, meaning they now needed to provide a CDC permit, something that wasn’t needed before the ban. And then there was an issue with mismatched signatures. Nation and his wife were able to get the signature error figured out, but the CDC denied Grace's entry.

The couple appealed to the CDC who eventually allowed Grace to enter if she was re-vaccinated in the US.

After a month in quarantine, the couple was able to take her to their North Carolina home.

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