Military Dogs Can Now Be Adopted by Their Handlers

Dogs have been with man a long time. Mistreated canines have been with mankind nearly as long. The association with war may be a little less ancient but also has a time honored history. In Greece, dogs were considered to be a sacred animal of Ares, their god of War, and when the Roman agricutural deity known as Mars became equated with the Greek God of War, the canis domesticus also got adopted as one of his sacred animals. Dogs are still used in wartime and some have seen service with the United States Military in Iraq.

Much like their homo sapien companions, sometimes an animal may be wounded too badly to continue serving his country. In the times past the army might commit euthanasia, but in kinder gentler times, they were often returned to a training base and evaluated for their use in training new handlers A law passed by President Clinton in the 1990s gives those who served with the animal or those willing to give a wounded animal a new home a different option.

Prior to the law, dogs that had been trained for military purposes could only be adopted by law enforcement agencies. The law passed by former President Clinton extended the right to former handlers and trainers. If the dogs were not too badly hurt, they may have been returned to a training base and their potential for use in training other handles would be decided.

Because they often see extensive combat and receive aggression training, the dogs may not be suitable for everyone. Trainers have to be able to show that not only will they be able to properly care for their former service animal, but they will be able to protect the owners from the aggressive tendencies which are trained into dogs that are likely to see combat operations. Often an animal that gets wounded in battle will be taken in by one of his handlers in the field. The care the dogs receive, according to the World Report section in The Daily Item is equal to that of the soldiers in the field.

Although the dogs may be heroes in the eyes of their handlers, they cannot receive official recognition from the government in the form of medals or commendations. It has not been unknown for commanders in the field to unofficially honor the dogs that served in their units.

Sources:

http://dodmwd.lackland.af.mil/news.htm

"Unsung Heroes. Canine Wariorrs." Jeff Don. The Daily Item. Wednesday, August 15, 2007. Sunbury, P