Posted on 06/30/2012 2:23:02 AM PDT by shibumi
If roadside bombs and other hazards of war don't kill military dogs, senseless government regulations and red tape might. The United States is breeding 100 puppies a year to train for bomb sniffing and other soldierly duties, but many aren't making it back to happy homes because an obscure federal law classifies them as "equipment" rather than personnel -- and makes adopting them a financial and bureaucratic nightmare. A bill to require that the military ship the heroic dogs home and ease potential veterinarian costs for adopting families is currently bogged down in Congress, as dogs continue to be euthanized. In the meantime, at least there is an occasional happy ending.
(Excerpt) Read more at now.msn.com ...
Guess they past that point on the “Complete Lives” curve. The “post-productive” citizens of the canine world.
Passed.
I would support such a bill.
ping for later
Wow, PETA has invaded FreeRepublic.
Oh, shut it. Good stewardship mean anything to you?
Military couples adopt bomb-sniffing dogs that served in Iraq
On this subject, it means everything to me.
I had heard of this shortly after enlisting. I didn’t know the impact until after talking to some dog handlers that served in VN. They were wearing T shirts honoring their dogs and broke down telling their experiences. I did too.
I think the military/government is afraid these dogs will be mishandled or hurt someone if returned to the states.
The military has an adoption policy, however the classification as equipment means they can be left behind, as almost 100% of them were left in Vietnam. If they had a different classification, this would be impossible.
As a side note, most of the military dogs in WWII weren’t left, since most were actually borrowed. Dog owners volunteered their dogs for military service, and got them back after the war, if they survived.
The US War Dogs website says that 4900 dogs were sent to Vietnam, only 204 returned home in 10 years. That is the point of the bill, they can just walk off and leave them, and have done just that.
I believe there is a program at Lackland that allows families to adopt either dogs that cannot make the cut or those dogs that return to the states.
I met a family a couple of weeks back who adopted a dog from Lackland.
This is the problem we encounter. We have been pigeon holed by the MSM that all environmental, poverty, and women issues must belong to the Dhim; any animal issue pertains to PETA, labor to the unions, and so on.
I didn’t know Obamacare covers dogs too.
Just a foreshadow of what they have in store for us.
No, if PETA had invaded Free Republic there would be a call for killing the dogs. Oh, wait....never mind.
EXACTLY!! Shame on every conservative who has allowed the left to “own” compassion for living beings not human. This is what happens. Conservatives pop up out of the woodwork and complain that they’re not human, therefore not deserving of compassionate care.... Unbelievable. No wonder the left has succeeded in labeling conservatives as uncaring. It’s not true, of course, but some conservatives act that way. Shameful.
My father’s German Shepherd was “volunteered” into service during WW2 and survived. He was given back to my father but unfortunately the dog did not adjust well to civilian life.
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