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| Government |
| Combat Dogs Are Being Abandoned in War Zones |
| 2014-09-03 |
| In his USA Today column, Jonah Goldberg exposes a national disgrace I was completely unaware of, one that is almost too heartbreaking to comprehend: the United State military sometimes reclassifies combat dogs as "equipment" and abandons them to languish in shelters overseas in war zones. Other than the fact that combat dogs save an average of 150 American lives during their service, these living creatures form strong emotional attachments to the men assigned to them. But when their time is up -- when they become too old, combat fatigued or shall-shocked to be useful in combat -- rather than transport them home for adoption, they are sometimes heartlessly abandoned. Goldberg writes that... It is one thing to ask these warriors to say goodbye to their dog when it is still on active duty and is assigned a new handler, which often happens. It is quite another to ask them to leave these dogs behind when the dogs are effectively abandoned overseas, left to languish in shelters -- or worse. That's why handlers are sometimes forced to make incredible sacrifices to get their four-legged comrades home on their own.Those "incredible sacrifices" made by the dog's handlers (also known as combat veterans), can mean an out-of-pocket cost of thousands of dollars. Goldberg points out that there are a number of charities devoted to reuniting these dogs and their handlers but many animals still fall through the cracks; abandoned in a strange land after being cruelly separated from the one person they love and the only life they know. North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones is pushing legislation that would require retired military dogs be brought home for adoption, but it's gone nowhere for over two years. CNN points out that thanks to a 2000 law signed by President Clinton, things are better for combat dogs than they were. Still, this is happening, even with "half-empty cargo planes transversing the globe daily," as Debbie Kandoll founder of Military Working Dog Adoptions told CNN. "It would be more than feasible to place a retired military working dog on the transport plane back to the continental United States," she added. "Uncle Sam got them over there, and it's a point of honor for Uncle Sam to get his soldiers, whether they are four-legged or two-legged, back to the U.S." No one, including Goldberg, is comparing the life of an animal to a human being. That's not the point. That's a different debate. The point is that this is wrong, morally wrong in every sense of the word. We are talking about a life. Not a human life, but the life of an innocent animal capable of selflessness, courage, loyalty, friendship and love. And an animal capable of such things is of course capable of feeling abandonment, heartache, and loss. If you (in this case, meaning the military and our country) assume the responsibility for the life of a dog in order to benefit from all the rewards that come with such a thing, you have a moral obligation to see that duty through to the end. |
| Posted by:Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 |
| #12 NO, it does not work that way Anice Nim. Prove that your not a pedophile now that I accuse you of it! I am very vary careful with my accusations too. He sites no references. Hew only sites a charity that works to bring the dogs home and they in no way accuse the DOD of neglect. Prove it to be right, prove that the dogs are euthanized because the big DOD hates dogs. This is crap. The dogs are cared for and loved. The stray dogs that are adopted are rarely allowed to come to the US, but the working dogs are US property, and there is a group of folks dedicated to their care. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2014-09-03 19:07 |
| #11 Jonah Goldberg is extremely careful with his research and is not, by any means, a lefty looney. If you doubt his word, then prove him wrong. |
| Posted by: Anice Nim 2014-09-03 16:19 |
| #10 I also find it hard to believe. The US military might be a mighty souless killing machine but it is still made up of people and I find it hard to imagine they'd do this when you coudl easily load them up on a C-130 or whatever and bring a bunch home along with other supplies or troops. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-09-03 14:59 |
| #9 I really find this hard to believe. Working dogs are considered property and would not be abandoned. I'm gonna take this one with a grain of salt. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2014-09-03 13:04 |
| #8 leave no one behind that is what the US is famous for and the dogs count as soldiers |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-09-03 12:36 |
| #7 Give a combat dog a good life. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-09-03 09:33 |
| #6 The same thing happened in Vietnam. Some possibly ended up on some family's dinner table. I'm a dog lover to the extreme and it breaks my heart to see this happen again. |
| Posted by: OCCD 2014-09-03 09:00 |
| #5 Combat dogs being abandoned is so wrong. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-09-03 08:06 |
| #4 Unless very ancient, the bringing home of war relic firearms is pretty much verboten as well. The war dog issue may be grounded in similar gov't concerns. Wouldn't want those crafty kanines falling into the wrong hands. It's simply for our own good. If the VA wants you to have a dog for therapy or mobility assistance, they'll issue you one. Get in line. [sarc off] |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-09-03 04:08 |
| #3 That's the problem - the dogs can't be hoodwinked into voting "D"". Dog's were helping paleolithic hunters bring down mastodons back when there were only a few million human souls on this orb. They've "had pour back" for millenniums. One or more dogs went in on the Abbottabad raid to nail Osama. I doubt that there is a US military crew chief in the world who would have a problem having a disciplined working dog added to the manifest at the last minute. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2014-09-03 01:31 |
| #2 Yeah, this is messed up. The obvious answer is to make combat dogs eligible for food stamps and Obama-phones. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-09-03 00:28 |
| #1 WTF? This is insane. It shouldn't be so hard to take a retired dog home. Let the handler have it and be done with it. Something deeper is wrong with the culture behind this kind of decision making. |
| Posted by: gorb 2014-09-03 00:12 |