Adopt a Vet, give him a home and rub his Tummy!

I’ve decided to write on something a little lighter than sin and torment tonight . A plight of US military veterans who are often over looked. Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, information has come out revealing that Navy Seal Team 6 used a military service dog to help them in their important historical mission. Since this was revealed there has been a drive to adopt retired military service dogs. These dogs are American heroes and need help.

“Dogs have been fighting with U.S. soldiers for centuries … unofficially in the Civil War, and then officially inducted into the U.S. Army in 1942 for World War II,” Rebecca Frankel, deputy managing editor of foreignpolicy.com, who writes “War Dog of the Week”, told ABC News.

Stories of the dogs used by SEAL Team 6 in the mission that killed Osama bin Laden have renewed interest in adopting the dogs as they retire from their military service. But adopting a canine veteran can cost as much as $2,000, as the military does not pay for the dogs’ return trips home. Officially, dogs that serve with U.S. soldiers are labeled “surplus equipment,” but they are so much more to the soldiers they help on the battlefield.

The dogs are a fighting force on four legs that are able to parachute into action, rappel into combat and swim into a skirmish. They are outfitted with protective body armor and a powerful bite. According to the U.S. Air Force, the bite from a German shepherd, one of the breeds used by the military, has a force between 400 and 700 pounds.

The Taliban has also noticed the value of the dogs.
“It’s unfortunate, but the Taliban has wisened to the fact that these dogs are so successful at uncovering IEDs and so they are actually a target,” Frankel told ABC News. “If they have them [the dogs] out on a lead or let them go in front of the unit often times I do think they attract sniper fire earlier.”

“They’ve [known] heavy training, combat, gunfire, explosions and just like a human, you should retire at some point and live a more peaceful life, and that’s what these dogs need,” Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association. “They only have two, three years remaining in their life, and I think they should live it with a loving family and in a peaceful atmosphere.”

Aiello knows how much a dog can help on the battlefield; his canine companion in Vietnam was named “Stormy.” He had to leave Stormy behind in Vietnam, but he is now working to get war dogs reclassified as canine veterans, which would make it easier to adopt them since the military would pay to bring them home.

About 3,000 dogs — mostly Dutch shepherds, German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Malinois — are deployed with American forces around the world. Military officials credit them with saving thousands of lives.

“My dog personally saved me while I was over in Vietnam with her. … It’s a bond that lasts a lifetime,” said Aiello.

Every year, about 300 of these “war dogs” are retired from military service and put up for adoption. Since the May 2 raid on the bin Laden compound in Pakistan, officials said they’d received more than 400 adoption applications. President Clinton legalized the adopting of war dogs in 2000.

If your interested in adopting a military dog visit militaryworkingdogadoptions.com

Pretty sure this last dog is a Chinese commie dog but I had to include it.