A story from CNN.com about dogs serving with the U.S. military in Iraq:
“About 2,000 of these working dogs confront danger beside American soldiers, largely in the Middle East. With noses that detect scents up to a third of a mile away, many sniff for explosives in Iraq. Their numbers have been growing about 20 percent a year since the terrorist attacks of 2001, says Air Force Capt. Jeffrey McKamey, who helps run the program. In doing their jobs, dozens of these dogs have also become war wounded — scorched by the desert, slashed by broken glass, pelted by stray bullets, pounded by roadside bombs. Their services are so valued, though, that wounded dogs are treated much like wounded troops. “They are cared for as well as any soldier,” insists Senior Airman Ronald A. Harden, a dog handler in Iraq.”
Dogs serve humans in a variety of ways, including during war, it seems. Let’s hope they all come back safely.
