another good dog story - Page 1

i opened the la times this a.m. and there was a story about the west coast dog memorial at riverside (ca) march field air museum. it was a very touching article. i learned a few things i didn't know about our dogs who serve our country. the 16 foot statue is of a soldier and his german shepherd. it seems that a small group of veterans meets there every year on the sunday before memorial day to remember and honor the dogs who serve and sacrifice for our country too. currently there is legislation in congress which would establish a national memorial at ft. belvoir in virginia. after serving our soldiers whether as sentries or as scouts, most of these dogs were euthanized because the federal government felt they could not be rehabilitated. they were classified as equipment. in 2000, pres. clinton signed legislation that allowed handlers to adopt war dogs and bring them home. along w/our men and women in afganistan and iraq, we have dogs who are serving to secure bases, guard prisoners; some wear backpacks equipped w/radios and are given commands from soldiers in protected areas. the military has been using dogs since world war 1.  representative walter b. jones (r-n.c) has agreed to sponser a bill for the national monument. the messages at the base of the west coast memorial are pretty emotional. i think we can all thank our dogs for their service and devotion to us in some very hard times. the actions of some of these dogs mean that someones son or daughter may come home safe and sound.

This one hits close to home as my Daughter just returned from Afghastan were she was working a Bomb dog, She will be adopting him, once he is retired.

I am glad the American government is so enlightened. Quite often in the past, animals have just been left behind, sold to the highest bidder. When this happened in Egypt at the end of WW I, with the British Cavalry horses, some officers told their men they would turn a blind eye if the men wanted to take their horses out into the desert and shoot them rather than condem them to a life of slavery. A British animal-lover did launch a privately funded rescue effort.  By the time it got off the ground, the condition of many of the of the horses rescued was unbelievable. Most of them had to be humanely destroyed.

Here's another story about the wonderful work GSD's do under very difficult circumstances:

www.gsdhelpline.com/denise,htm

fm2410- very glad to hear your daughter is home safe; let us know when she gets to adopt her dog. tell her that no matter our political leanings, we really do honor and appreciate her service.