Dogs play many roles during wartime: soldier, hero, innocent victim. Animal Fair considers war from the perspective of the dog in Iraq.
By Carrie Devorah
The war in Iraq was not fought by man alone. The US Army increased its usage of its most valued military weapon – war dogs, carefully selected K-9’s highly trained to sniff planted enemy mines, mitigating military lives lost in troop advancement.
In Iraq, the US Army enlisted Ronco International Mine Clearing to find mines with German shepherds, Dutch shepherds and Belgium Malinois ages 14 months to ten years, which had been bought from Holland and trained in Africa and Bosnia. Sadly, the brave dogs are regarded as property by the US Army and are left behind after troops return home. “It’s easier to replace a dog than a person. You can’t put a price on a person,” said Ronco dog trainer Lawrence Richardson; not a sentiment that many pet lovers advocate.
K-9 mine sweepers and handlers are trained and matched by US trainers.
Local handlers attend a 10-12 day class, learning hand and voice signals, and appropriate voice and tone. Taught to care for their animals, they inspect them daily from nose to tail including the dogs’ paws.
Dogs undergo six months of training before deployment. During training, two dogs work one area, alternating 15 to 30 minute intervals with 30 minute breaks. Training includes seeking dynamite contained in glass in one of multiple ground holes. Dogs are taught the smell of explosives, how to walk toward the mines against instinct, and how to detect them four or more inches into the ground. “Dogs discriminate between metal and mines because of the explosives. A mine detector can’t,” said Wade.
Accomplishments are rewarded with playtime and praise. Dogs work 6-8 hour days, however weather limits work days. Wade says, “If there is moisture on the ground or if it has been raining, dogs cannot smell as well. The conditions have to be right.”
Conditions must have been perfect when five year old Buster, the only British sniffer K9 in Iraq, showed up his squadron when, after they failed to turn munitions up, he found a hidden cache of arms including assault weapons. Unlike US handlers whose dogs remain at the base and then in the country after their handlers are redeployed home, Buster’s handler, Sgt. Danny Moran of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, keeps Buster at his home in Aldershot, Hants.
Morgan says, “I trained him by teaching him to fetch weapons like guns and ammunition instead of sticks and balls,” he said. “He loves his job simply because he thinks it’s a game.”
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