From Military.com:
“All
Military Working Dogs Deserve to Come Home After Service. Too Many Are Being
Left Behind”
Robin Ganzert,
Ph.D., is president and CEO of American Humane. She is the author of
"Mission Metamorphosis: Leadership for a Humane World." Last month,
retired military working dog Bogi traveled more than 4,000 miles, from Iwakuni,
Japan, to Honolulu, Hawaii, to be reunited with her former handler, Marine
Corps Sgt. Angela Cardone. It was a heartwarming, beautiful reunion, and one
that deserves to be replicated every time an MWD retires from service. Sadly,
however, this is not the case, as bringing these K-9 veterans back home after
service and ensuring they receive proper veterinary care can be a logistical
nightmare too difficult to overcome.
On National K-9
Veterans Day (March 13), we pay tribute to the contributions of our four-legged
military heroes and call on Congress to introduce and pass legislation that
provides grants for the transportation and care of retired MWDs. For more than
eight decades, MWDs have officially served alongside our brave men and women in
uniform, keeping our sons and daughters safe from harm. While today's MWDs no
longer ferry messages through combat territory, they provide an invaluable
layer of added security that modern technology cannot replicate. A dog's nose
has up to 300 million olfactory receptors, which are the biological tools used
to detect airborne odors. Human noses, for comparison, have just 5 to 6
million. That means a canine can detect a single drop of a dangerous substance
in more than 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. Each dog can save hundreds of
lives. Consider MWD Troll, who was awarded the American Humane Lois Pope K-9
Medal of Courage on Capitol Hill in 2019. While deployed to Afghanistan, Troll
logged 1,240 hours while conducting 89 combat missions. During a single raid on
an insurgent compound, Troll sniffed out three improvised explosive devices,
keeping 65 coalition force members safe. There is no price tag that can be put
on this courageous feat or others like it. Just a few years ago, Congress
recognized these irrefutable facts and signed into law legislation to give
courageous K-9s the retirements they deserve. The 2016 National Defense
Authorization Act mandates that handlers of these special veterans be given
first rights of adoption upon retirement. This provision helps ensure that
battle buddies who serve together, and protect one another, can remain together.
The law also stipulates that MWDs retire on American soil.
To make these
laws a reality for retired MWDs and their handlers, American Humane and other
non-governmental organizations work to marshal and allocate the funds necessary
to bring these dogs to U.S. soil and give them the retirements they so
rightfully deserve. Flying K-9s back from military bases abroad and foreign
combat zones is no easy task. Many airlines and planes aren't equipped to
ensure the safest possible journey, and the cost can easily reach into the
thousands of dollars. Congress is to be applauded for taking the first step in
allowing our MWDs to be adopted by their battle buddies. It's time, however,
for Congress to take the next courageous step and allocate funds for their safe
return and veterinary care so that our K-9 veterans may enjoy healthy, happy
retirements.
^ The US
Military and the US Federal Government needs to do a lot more to support
active-working K-9 dogs as well as retired K-9 dogs. These dogs risk their
lives to protect the US and the American people and the least we can do is make
sure they are properly taken care of. ^
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