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International Airport" a front man tells PEOPLE, noting that "our military working dogs were safely evacuated"
The Department of Defense is knocking down reports that a number of dogs working with the military were allegedly left behind as the U.S. finalized its exit from Afghanistan this week.
A Pentagon front man tells PEOPLE these stories are "erroneous" and that "our military working dogs were safely evacuated."
Photos showing dogs in cages did not depict "dogs under the care of the U.S. military," the front man said.
The denial comes after American Humane — a nonprofit that promotes animal welfare and safety — issued a statement Monday claiming the U.S. was "leaving behind brave U.S. military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies."
A front man for the group did not respond to a call and email seeking further comment.
The claim led to fury among some social media users and a spate of headlines — which the government says are wrong as they regard military dogs specifically.
Defense front man Eric Pahon tells PEOPLE that troops also did not leave any dogs in cages at the Kabul airport amid the evacuation operation.
"The U.S. priority mission was the evacuation of U.S. citizens, SIV [participants in a special visa program] and vulnerable Afghans," Pahon says. "However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
to correct erroneous reports, the U.S. military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, to include the reported 'military working dogs.' "
He continued: "Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under the care of the U.S. military. Despite an ongoing complicated and dangerous retrograde [withdrawal] mission, U.S. forces went to great lengths to assist the Kabul Small Animal Rescue as much as possible."
In addition to the military dogs whom the Pentagon says were evacuated, there are other groups of pets in need in Afghanistan, which may be fueling the conflicting reports.
Animal rescues and advocates have said they need to get their cats and dogs out of the country after the Taliban
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takeover.
Military contractors and others working with the U.S. military also may have their own animals helping them, but they would not have been under the purview of American forces.
A separate source echoed the Pentagon's official explanation, telling PEOPLE that "this one is unfolding minute by minute, but the one connecting thread is that the dogs are not U.S. military dogs."
"Many of the dogs [with Kabul Small Animal Rescue] had worked with contractors," this source says. "The dogs were not given to local families because the Taliban bans pet ownership."
The source notes that, culturally, dogs are seen by many in Afghanistan as "unclean."
According to a Monday update on the website of the SPCAI, the animals under the care of Kabul Small Animal Rescue include 130 dogs, some of whom were pets of Americans living in Afghanistan, whose whereabouts are not entirely clear.
According to the update, staff with the Kabul Small Animal Rescue were informed on Monday that most of their dogs "had to be released into the airport" in Kabul as it was evacuated — "turning once rescued shelter dogs into homeless strays," the statement read.