Yet another story reminding us - they are "man's best friend"
Unfortunately, for both the dog and the soldier, it is US military policy in Iraq to kill the dog!
"Prohibited activities for service members under General Order 1-A include adopting as pets or mascots, caring for or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal"
To help these soldiers and there "adoptees" Bonnie Buckley is working hard at http://www.militarymascots.org/
Mike
C'mon, Mike.
If that policy were enforced, then there wouldn't be any dogs left alive for your friend Bonnie to help the guys send home, now would there?
Or how about the dog discussed in this story? How come that dog wasn't killed long before she had puppies, one of which was sent to the mom of a fallen Soldier?
Don't get me wrong - I think your friend Bonnie is doing a wonderful thing. But it doesn't need to be flogged using alarmist statements.
MaryAnn,
Even tho I don't know what it means, sorry to have "flogged" the issue.
I was just hoping the much larger and more linked to organization would post a line or two regarding military mascots, an organization trying to do, with far less resources, what you accomplished with DJ.
Just so you know, my thinking comes almost 100% from a recently read book:
"From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava".
Perhaps the powers that be have rethought the policies in existence 3+ years ago?
BTW, I'd already read the "Puppy Love" posts from Blackfive and was just blown away by the effort and dollars put into this by so many, begining with your very own group, and what a perfect ending resulted.
However, I am curious as what's happening with/to the mother dog, still in Iraq? Probably should be posting this question on Blackfive.
Fair enough, Mike.
As far as I know, DJ's mom has been living at or near COP Annihilator for some time and will probably continue to do so.
The people at Blackfive often receive requests about dogs, so they might be happy to know about Military Mascots. (Although if you want to open a dialog with the military community about this, you might not want to start off by accusing them of killing dogs. Know what I mean?)
Additionally, this was considered a special case because the request came from a Gold Star Mother.
In terms of the expenses, it should be made clear that Laughing Wolf did not travel to Iraq just to get DJ. The embed was already planned.
Good luck.
Commenting by HaloScan
