Congress acts to let wounded soldier keep her on-duty dog

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05332/613540.stm

I sort of felt it was going to turn out this way. Maybe they'll let be have my 50Cal BMG back. I developed a deep and personal relationship with it standing watch into the wee hours of the morning steaming around the Persian Gulf <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

That's great. I saw the story on the news night before last.

Great. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />
Whiny idiots sacrifice the good of others for their own self desires. She should be ashamed of herself.

I realize some feel the dog still has a job to do in Iraq... but dogs come a dime a dozen.

I am proud as hell that our country did the right thing by this solider. She deserves more compensation for her duty… but this has to help ease her suffering.

You can’t change human or canine emotion. Humans become attached to there dogs and dogs become attached to their humans. God bless America!

Fine, then you and your dogs stand her watch <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

She already has multiple dogs, cats and horses waiting for her at home. Pretty selfish of her.

Since trained bomb dogs are in supremely short supply, some young grunt now gets to go poking at suspected IED's. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

it might strike some as inappropriate, but it reminds me of the terry schivo hoopla.

get your congressman involved in an emotionally-laden subject, get the press involved, and "voila!", the political cost to the congressman becomes heavier than the ULTIMATE cost to the subject. thank god in shivo's case the judges had the sense to separate the judicial branch from the legislative branch. in this case however, the "puppy come home" syndrome has prevailed, and you can bet that the congresspeople in question will get a lot more votes for letting her keep that dog.

BTW--isn't the dog the property of the US, and why (other than politics) would the military give it up? sorry--i should've read the article before i went off. i'll go read it now. but i hope i got my viewpoint across... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

It is interesting that you say that Dennis... as I have just been in resent contact with my local homeland security offices offering the services of myself and my dog. I have asked that they evaluate her potential for bomb/SAR. I would gladly help my county in anyway I can…. But at the end of the day she is my dog and will come home to me.

I have actually volunteered my time and effort for what it’s worth. Money is not the object of my desire. But if a bomb blows up in my face... I want my children and dog by my side.

Sorry if this sounds selfish. That's how I feel.

Julie

and that grunt could be my son, my co-worker's son or my supervisor's son...i prayed when my son was born (his first birthday was the day before the gulf war started) that we wouldn't be at war when he was this old. but we are, and while i KNOW how it is to be attached to a dog, she went in knowing this dog was NOT her property, right?

is she a professional, or a baby? "squeaky wheel gets the grease"... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I don't agree with giving the dog to her. Currently there are kennels in the Air Force with way more handlers than dogs. There are numerous kennels in DoD that are short dogs (ie waiting for us here at the DoD Dog Center to produce trained dogs). There are hundreds of K9 handlers in the AOR dealing everyday with what injured this handler went through protecting fellow military members and those living in the AOR. The dog she wants to keep, Rex, is 5 years old and has been at Peterson AFB since 2003. What is happening is going to set a precedent and our supply of trained MWDs, which already cannot keep up with demand (ie these trained dogs ARE NOT a dime a dozen) is going to lead to more danger and or lost lives for those in the war zone and other missions these MWDs conduct on a DAILY basis (ie Secret Service missions, local bomb threats, Law Enforcement/Security duty at their home installation, etc). Folks, a MWD is not a pet. Every single MWD, in it's operational lifetime, has MULTIPLE handlers and pretty much every handler has MULTIPLE dogs that they work in their career. These are not your local police dogs that go home with the handlers. I'd have liked to adopt the dogs I worked in my career but I'm a clear thinking individual that knows what these dogs are used for. For those of you in support (and I don't hold it against anyone) what happens if this Congressional Bill makes it so easy to adopt these MWDs that safety is not a factor. Will those that support and or wrote the bill take the blame when one of these MWDs mauls your kid? Right now for the Robby bill (ie the adoption of MWDs, and something I support to an extent) we have safeguards, rules, and boards in place to help prevent catastrophe. But everyone knows that ANY dog will bite...