Remember how that one brave dog, along with a team of army specialists, managed to take out Osama bin Laden?
Well, now that the press has given these military pooches so much attention, people all over the country are actually wanting to adopt them.
More than 300 war dogs are retired from their military service every year in US alone, but unfortunately, most of them are euthanized because of various issues, with degrading health being the primary reason.
In fact, it costs about $50,000 to $60,000 to train one to be “military” grade (in fact, the military turns them into bionic weapons on four legs) , but when you adopt a retired military dog, it costs you $1,000 to $2,000 to take one home.
Because of the popular press that these dogs have gotten, last week alone, there were more than 400 requests to adopt these soon-to-retire military pooches.
Great news…
But one issue that really disturbs us, here at PawshPal…. if you really think about it, something doesn’t feel right.
These dogs not only give us (i.e. their handlers) unconditional love and obedience,
… these dogs are basically (unknowingly) risking their lives to save our soliders
In fact, some of these dogs that the military people would consider “heroes” were downright thrown away:
After the Vietnam War, only 204 of an estimated 4,900 war dogs returned to the United States, according to military dog organizations. The others were euthanized, given to the South Vietnamese army or abandoned by soldiers trying to save the dogs.
In fact, even if you do adopt these military 4-legged heroes, the US military won’t even recognize them as “war veterans”:
When dogs are adopted, they no longer belong to the military, “so it would be fraud, waste and abuse for the DOD to transport that pet,” Maj. Gen. Mary Kay Hertog told the Air Force News Service in 2009.
I personally feel this story is rather confusing.
One side, I feel as if we should all cheer.. till we find out what the truth is behind the scenes.
Isn’t a military dog that risks its life to save its human masters’ lives as much a hero as the human “war hero”?
What do you think? Am I overreacting or do these dogs need proper recognition?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
(src)
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