Animal Rights Group Criticizes President For Allegedly Abandoning Military Dogs, Pentagon Denies
The American Humane animal rights group has criticized the current administration for allegedly leaving American Military dogs behind in Afghanistan.
In a statement released on Monday, President and CEO of American Humane, Dr. Robin R. Ganzert, said:
“I am devastated by reports that the American government is pulling out of Kabul and leaving behind brave U.S. military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies,” he said. “These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned.”
Ganzert went on to say that American Humane, which was founded back in 1877, is ready to do whatever it can to rescue the dogs.
“This senseless fate is made all the more tragic, as American Humane stands ready to not only help transport these contract K-9 soldiers to U.S. soil but also to provide for their lifetime medical care,” American Humane said.
American Humane has “worked hand in hand with the military for more than 100 years to rescue military animals,” the CEO added.
“In fact, our famed rescue program began on the bloody battlefields of WWI Europe, at the request of the U.S. Secretary of War.”
“Since that time, American Humane served as a pioneer in the development of animal therapy for returning veterans, and today brings home retired military working dogs and pairs veterans with life-saving service dogs.”
“As the country’s first national humane organization and largest certifier of animal welfare in the world, it sickens us to sit idly by and watch these brave dogs who valiantly served our country be put to death or worse,” Ganzert said. “In order to prevent this tragedy from occurring, these K-9’s should be loaded into whatever cargo space remains and flown to safety.”
“Irrespective of the outcome, this gross oversight of justice must be stopped from happening again, as it did in Vietnam too,” the statement concluded. “To that end, we call on Congress to take action to classify contract working dogs on the same level as military working dogs. Failure to do anything less, is a failure of humanity and a condemnation of us all.”
The American government is pulling out of #Kabul and leaving behind brave U.S. military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies. We stand ready to bring them home! Read our CEO @RobinGanzert's full statement: https://t.co/IKhBkm4B7a pic.twitter.com/ItFlthDTAi
— American Humane (@AmericanHumane) August 30, 2021
Reports by Fox News and TMZ say that the Veteran Sheepdogs of America organization was preparing to help the dogs allegedly left in the hands of fate.
However, they were unable to complete their mission.
Joshua Hosler, president of non-profit organization Veteran Sheepdogs of America, said they accepted the task of getting 51 dogs out of Kabul.
Recently, they made a tweet showing a number of dogs in crates in front of a helicopter which, according to Hosler, was only a fraction of the dogs left behind by U.S. forces.
The organization had its hopes set to raise $1.67 million to cover the cost for a 737 plane out of Kabul. On Tuesday, Veteran Sheepdogs of America made another social media post saying that they were still struggling with money issues.
“So we are scrambling to cover their amount of $500,000 of the $1.67 million,” they wrote.
UPDATE: Kabul Airfield. Working on getting working dogs out. Whatever mess you think Kabul is… it's worse!https://t.co/3vaYMaMAyd
@veteransheepdogsofamerica.org pic.twitter.com/tLEFICE8eK— Veteran Sheepdogs of America (@VetSheepdogsUS) August 29, 2021
Claims refuted by the Pentagon…
On Tuesday, the Pentagon made a statement opposing claims that rescue dogs were left behind in cages.
“The U.S. priority mission was the evacuation of U.S. citizens, SIV [participants in a special visa program] and vulnerable Afghans,” said Defense spokesman Eric Pahon. “However, to correct erroneous reports, the U.S. military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, to include the reported ‘military working dogs.’”
To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. Military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs. Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under our care.
— John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) August 31, 2021
“Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under the care of the U.S. military. Despite an ongoing complicated and dangerous retrograde [withdrawal] mission, U.S. forces went to great lengths to assist the Kabul Small Animal Rescue as much as possible.”
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