I just recently heard that dogs that are used in the Army, Navy, etc., are brought back to the US, and then are put to sleep after they are done being used as a service dog. Does anyone know anything about this?
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lfino (
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November 17th, 2009
They might be used as drug or bomb sniffing dogs, and when they get old, they’re brought home to the U.S., crated, and then eventually put to sleep. I wonder why they would not be adopted out on a regular basis? This was briefly talked about on a radio talk show, but more as “this will be talked about at the end of the week”.
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Where do you hear this? Service animals are usually treated in high regard after their service.
Link please. I know servicemen who have adopted service dogs.
It was a lead-in for an upcoming story on a radio talk show. The host of the show sat by someone on a flight that had one of these dogs that she did adopt, but she’s the one that’s trying to get the word out what happens to many of these dogs.
I was of the impression that they were not even returned, they were euthanized at the location of their last deployment.
There was a story on the news not too long ago where a soldier fought to be able to bring his dog back with him.
dear god i sure hope so! i hate dogs.
jk i hope not
Rooeytoo, is it because of the cost of bringing them home? I was under the impression with this story that they were brought home, but then put to sleep.
I highly doubt these animals are destroyed out of mere convenience. There is likely good reason these dogs cannot be adopted by civilians.
I think it is more the attack dogs who are highly strung that would need to be euthanised after service. But the sniffer and bomb detection dogs are usually held in high regard because of their breeds.
It’s only the ones that know too much.
Maybe they have heartworms or something? I seem to remember something about people wanting to adopt a service dog that had to be put down because of something like that.
Theyre probably adopted by the soldiers, kinda like police dogs.
In the USA Clinton signed a bill in 2000 decreeing that they can be adopted.
I know I saw something on television recently where a soldier had to raise money hmself and practically smuggle a dog back into the USA. Maybe it was not a military dog, maybe just a pet.
Beats me, but anyhow since 2000 they can be adopted, if you google, it tells you how to go about the process.
I think it’s Friday that this story is supposed to be on the talk show. I’ll try to find out and try to get more details.
Whoever said that is mistaken. The dogs are offered to disabled vets first, and then made available for adoption through the Military Working Dogs Foundation Click on the link to find out how you can help.
Back when I was in the service, (weapons were rocks and spears) the dog’s partner was given first chance to adopt them, if they did not they were placed for open adoption. I never heard of any animal being put down for other than medical reasons (severe injury etc.).
Thank you YARNLADY, PandoraBoxx, and others for your answers. I have emailed the host of the talk show to see when this lady was appearing on her show, and if I hear from her, I will pass your comments on. I really do appreciate hearing this.
What the point of the talk show was that there is a ton of red tape to be able to adopt service dogs, and Debbie Kandoll’s goal is to try to cut down on the red tape. It can take up to 17 months to adopt a dog that is spoken for but normally, dogs are scheduled for euthanasia after 1–3 months. They only are given 3 months to live if they are deemed “outstanding dogs” or have “wonderful temperaments”. These dogs have been working daily, and then they live in a kennel until the adoption goes through, and are 11 or 12 years old. This woman had to make 20 phone calls to even find a service dog to adopt. She’s wanting to streamline the process of adoption. The people in the military don’t have the time to keep up with the adoption process – basically they are busy with “war”. She would like to see civilian support in locating homes by putting the adoptable dogs on a website when they are available, similar to the adoption websites that exist for pets now. Debbie’s husband is or was in the military and they were stationed in North Carolina when she started the adoption. Bennie, her adopted dog, was trained to be a therapy dog after coming to live with them. She told some moving stories of what the dogs do for soldiers that have been injured. @PandorBoxx, you listed the website that she was promoting: http://www.militaryworkingdogadoptions.com/
So that’s the story!
@lfino thanks for the update. It sounds like a worthy cause, but there are many well run groups that already do what she wants. I’m thinking she just didn’t know to look online.
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