When a Dog Is More Than a Dog, We Should Treat Him Like a Hero

This USA Today column is surprising and disappointing.  If you’ve ever loved a dog, you probably have more sense than our federal government.  Did you know that when military dogs are retired, their classified as “equipment?”

Yep.  Jonah Goldberg writes:

Military dogs are enlisted (drafted actually) to identify enemy locations, to seek out bombs and protect bases. It is dangerous, often traumatic, work. The dogs are credited with saving countless U.S. and allied lives, which is why the Taliban actively targets our dogs of war. While on active service, each dog is given a higher rank than its handler.

That is, right up until the moment these dogs are “retired.” Once they are too old, too shell-shocked or simply not needed, the dogs are automatically declared equipment that can be left behind like a latrine tent. The military sometimes says they are “retired” and become “civilians,” but the result is the same because these civilians don’t have a right to military transport home.

Does that seem fair to you?  In an article about Animal Planet’s Glory Hounds, a former Marine said, “They call them tools, and they are not. They are soldiers. They just have four paws instead of two feet. They walk in front of the platoons.  It’s a deadly game, and they die all the time. But they save lives by finding IEDs that technology can’t find.”

It seems like these dogs deserve more.  The USA Today author agrees:

“While there is a proper, legal classification for a working dog, we know they are living things, and we have great respect and admiration for them,” Gerry Proctor, a spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base (which trains military dogs), told CNN. “A handler would never speak of their dog as a piece of equipment. The dog is their partner. You can walk away from a damaged tank, but not your dog. Never.”

If you ever talked to a military dog handler, or even if you simply had a dog, odds are you know the obvious truth of this. If you still need convincing, watch the 2013 Animal Planet documentary about U.S. war dogs in Afghanistan, Glory Hounds, to see not merely how vital these animals are, but also how powerful the bond between the handler and his canine comrades is. “The relationship between you and your dog is the most important part of your partnership,” Lance Cpl. Kent Ferrell, whose German shepherd, Zora, is trained to both attack the enemy and find explosives, explains in the film. “Your dog has to be able to trust you.”

And it’s obvious how much these dogs trust their trainers.  Check out this reunion video between a soldier and his dog, after they’d been separated:

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

I know it takes a lot to get these dogs back to America in safety, but so what?  As Goldberg said:

Going by simple cost-benefit analysis, the military wouldn’t go to such great lengths to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers or protect the American flag, and yet it does. Why? Because everyone understands that such obligations are morally required and vital to morale.

We can and should protect these canine heroes.

Support organizations such as the United States War Dog Association, the American Humane Association who reunite soldiers to their dogs when possible, at no taxpayer expense.

Sometimes a dog is more than a dog.  He’s a hero.

Let’s treat these guys with respect!

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