about this. Sending dogs into a situation that makes them this neurotic is animal cruelty. Yet we do it to thousands of our own people.... and for the kind of crass goals we seem to have for our wars of late.
In Vietnam, they just put the dogs down after service. I've had vets tell me that they wish the government would have done that to them... as a kindness.
"Nearly 4000 dogs served in Vietnam and saved up to 10,000 American servicemen through their scouting and sentry duties. When withdrawing from Vietnam in 1973, the military classified the dogs as surplus equipment to be left behind during evacuation. Many dogs were left with South Vietnamese allies who were afraid of the dogs and didn't know how to handle them. Many of the dogs were euthanized, and many more perished at the hands of their inexperienced South Vietnamese handlers. Only a handful of Vietnam war dogs made it back to the United States. Many handlers and trainers who worked with these dogs were traumatized by having to leave their faithful companions behind, stating that the dogs saved their lives and often did more work than they did.
Relegated to the status of military equipment rather than personnel, dogs in the U.S. military were drafted for life and were euthanized once they are deemed infirm and incapable of continuing their jobs. The military claimed that these dogs were incapable of being retired to civilian life, despite the fact that police dogs, which receive identical training, are successfully and peacefully retired to loving homes and families upon retirement. As a result of the past indifference shown toward war dogs, many of their accomplishments have been unjustly forgotten, or at best, relegated to the status of "trivia" by war buffs. Many of the records of war dogs and their handlers have been lost or destroyed, and the public remained largely unaware of the contribution by dogs in the armed forces. The military as since changed their policy due to overwhelming protests from both the public and the dog handlers themselves. Military dogs are now returned to the U.S. and are no longer euthanized, but instead are given to their handlers when they are retired. They can then live out their remaining years in the peace and comfort of a loving home."
http://www.eagleid.com/veterans/dogs.htm
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