Heroes Among Us: Military Dogs

This article is from the Cesar's Way email newsletter. The startling thing here is that in the past these trained military dogs were actually euthanized once their tour of duty was completed. Today many of them are "allowed" to be adopted into civilian homes and there is actually a waiting list of people willing to adopt these heroes and let them live the rest of their lives in safety and comfort. (There is a lot of red tape though and it can be costly to the adopter.) If we, humans, are going to use and train dogs to clearly do the things that our human body isn't capable of, isn't it only right to make sure they are honored and treated with respect while being trained, while working, and then once they are retired? I say YES we are obligated to do so. Here is the article.

Heroes Among Us: Military Dogs

Over the past month since the world learned that a Navy SEALs dog named “Cairo” helped carry out the mission that took down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a wave of fascination with military dogs has surged.

The dog, assumed to be a Belgian Malinois, is as much a classified and protected member of the military as any human, and whose identity—along with the human SEALs—may never be revealed. President Obama is one of the few people to have met the dog, in a closed-door session following the U.S. arrival of the SEALs team.

Cairo (and the other nearly 3,000 dogs on active duty in the American military like him) have a critical role in protecting the troops, whose importance was relatively unknown until the raid on bin Laden catapulted it into the public eye.

In fact, the use of U.S. military dogs dates back to at least World War I and Pearl Harbor. But in the last decade their use and number has grown tremendously—there were 1,800 canines on active duty before the attack on the World Trade Center September 11. The pilot program in Afghanistan for bomb-sniffing dogs began in 2008 and was so successful that the original nine dogs has grown to a team expected to reach 650 by the end of this year.

The reason? Canines can perform safety and security functions that no human or technological innovation can. They can smell. They can pick up on movement and scents that night-vision goggles and even the most advanced devices cannot. From search and rescue to warning soldiers of homemade bombs, the number of lives saved because of their powerful noses is immeasurable. Bomb-sniffing dogs are nothing new, but the critical functions they are now serving overseas to combat terrorists is breaking new ground.

Warrior dogs in action

“Most of the public isn’t aware of what these dogs add to national security,” Gerry Proctor, a spokesman for training programs at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, told The New York Times last month.

But such expertise doesn’t come cheap. The cost of training and care can be as high as $40,000 per dog. The breeds are generally assumed to be German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, but recent reports have indicated purebred Labrador retrievers are now being used as well, particularly by the Marines.

Such dogs are used to find explosives, insurgents, drugs, and missing people, and are credited with saving thousands of lives. For example, last year a dog on patrol in Iraq detected a fertilizer bomb on the other side of the door in a building. He sat down to alert the troops, who would have otherwise opened the door, potentially blowing up the building and killing all inside.

As with any good human-canine pairing, the bonds between military dogs and their soldier handlers are strong. One story late last year made headlines and tugged at heartstrings when a 20-year-old Marine, Pfc. Colton W. Rusk, was killed by sniper fire in one of the most dangerous areas in Afghanistan. Reports shared that when Private Rusk was shot, his black Lab Eli crawled on top of him to try to protect him. Eli was retired early (at 3-years-old) from the military and was adopted a couple months later by the Rusk family, an event widely celebrated in Texas that generated a ton of coverage. At the ceremony, the Rusks said that when they first brought Eli home, “the first place he went was Colton’s room… He sniffed around and jumped up on his bed…He’s been a great comfort to us.”

Homecoming?

Eli was one of the few canine warriors to retire early (most retire at the age of 8 or 9). More common are dogs that have a career not unlike their handlers, going on as many as four repeat deployments. While all indications suggest American troops may be starting to come home this summer, the same is not necessarily true for dogs. They are sending more in and expanding their use at home.

 It was recently announced that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will be the first in the U.S. to initiate a program for K-9s that “are specifically trained to detect a plume of air emitted from a person.” This means the dogs can “discreetly screen passengers for Human Borne Improvised Explosive Devices,” or HBIEDs. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the dogs will “add another layer of protection to help combat potential acts of terrorism.”

Life after the military

As the numbers of warrior dogs may be increasing, there is light at the end of the tunnel for canine veterans. According to several war dog organizations, the number of people asking about adopting retired military dogs has dramatically increased since news about “Cairo’s” involvement in the bin Laden raid broke.

In an average year, approximately 300 retired U.S. military dogs are put up for adoption. But in the last month, military officials say they've received more than 400 adoption applications. It has been widely reported that sadly, many military dogs in the past were euthanized after their tours of duty.

In fact, it wasn’t until President Bill Clinton signed a law in 2000 that the dogs were even allowed to be adopted by civilians. Today, some military spokespeople have a waiting list for interested parties wanting to adopt these canine heroes such as the nonprofit Military Working Dog Adoptions, which has received over 300 inquiries since the May 1 raid.

Even still, the cost of getting them back to the U.S. is high (often $1,000 to $2,000 to bring them back to the U.S. on commercial flights) and falls on the adopter. Once the dog is claimed, it’s no longer military property and as such, cannot fly on military aircraft without violating defense department protocol. This is because officially, the dogs are considered equipment. Reclassifying them as canine vets would change that, but it would require an act of Congress so many animal welfare and rights organizations are gearing up for awareness campaigns.

In the meantime, the work abroad and at home continues for these heroic warrior dogs. And just as we do our military members, we salute them.