Posted on 01/05/2005 12:58:40 PM PST by esryle
LAS VEGAS -- The commander of an Army Reserve detachment is begging friends back home to send food for Iraqi police dogs.
"The dogs are starving and urgently need dry dog food," Capt. Gabriella Cook, commander of the Las Vegas-based 313th Military Police Detachment, said in a Dec. 28 e-mail reported Wednesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Some of them have already died," Cook wrote. "Half of them are sick. We have no way of buying actual dog food here."
Cook's unit arrived last month in the Iraq capital. She said 12 German shepherds and one black Labrador retriever trained for bomb-detection and attack at the Iraqi Police Academy in Baghdad have been eating table scraps and garbage.
"It seems like an emergency situation," Diana Paivanas, a Henderson pet-care provider and Cook's friend, told the Review-Journal. "Something needs to be done now to save these dogs."
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a veterinarian, directed a legislative aide to contact an Army liaison to investigate, a spokesman for the senator said.
Military officials at the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad did not immediately respond to the newspaper's request for information about the food supply for U.S. canines in Iraq.
Paivanas said she found it costs about $50 to mail a 30-pound bag of dog food to Cook.
Henderson Veterinarian Terry Muratore estimated that each of the 13 working dogs would consume a 40 pounds or more of dry food per month.
"If securing the country entails having security dogs that are healthy, then we should do that," Muratore said. "Surely there's space on a C-130 to get a pallet of dog food over there."
They can be fed RAW chicken parts with bones. Or for that matter any raw bird or small animal.
Now before you go nuts on me ask yourself .. what did K-9s eat before commercial dog food came out in the 50s? For thousands of years and did just fine.
I agree. I've fed my dogs just about everything but chicken bones and chocolate, both of which could kill them. One of my dogs lived to 16 on dry dog food AND people food. If we were having steak, she was having some of that steak and the bone. Whatever we were having, she was having, even the boiled okra with butter. I buy special cheap weenies for my two now. Baloney, cheese, potatoes, you name it, they like it. The cat only eats tuna, a little salmon, a little milk and dry cat food and water.
Surely there has to be an overabundance of wild cats that can be caught or shot............ /sarcasm
I love they way some of you get all excited about something that hasn't been verified. The army makes provisions for these animals. They don't just dump them off and say "oh, well we will just let the handlers figure out how to get food for them". Just like we don't buy food for our troops in Iraq, we don't buy dog food either. We ship it to them and I am sure she has plenty if she is even a real officer with real dogs. Why doesn't she go to her CO and put in a request for dog food?
I have a hard time believing this. I've been in contact with dog handler teams in Kuwait and they say the gov'mint provides all the dogs' needs. They appreciate treats and toys, but say the dogs have good medical attn and food.
These aren't US military dogs, but Iraqis. Unknown if it is widespread or has been a long term or temporary situation.
Puppy ping.
Duly noted.
Does this mean we are doing a dognapping tonight?
Then shipping to Wolfstar...
I do try to seek out the happy dog stories where we can all post pictures of ours and have a good time... but there are is unfortunate number of sad and bad stories posted.
"everything but chicken bones and chocolate, both of which could kill them."
Correct on chocolate. Incorrect on chicken bones. RAW chicken bones are great. It's any cooked bone that can kill. (they tend to splinter after being cooked.)
The title of the above article is:
Soldier Begging For Dog Food For Deployed Dogs,
but here is a different article entitled Army Reserve officer begging food for Iraqi police dogs
This is amazing. West Texas Wend and I are doing a project right now that involves just one dog. It's a puppy that was given to a friend over there after the mother and sibs died. The Iraqi's couldn't afford to feed him and gave him to our friend.
West Texas Wend is trying to get Purina involved and I was able to round up some food samples, snacks, toys and stuff from my vet. We need to press Purina and send them this thread, WTW! (thanks for the ping). :)
I'm sure the US govt. can afford some dog food!
Dogs need dog food not people food, though they can live on it, but not well.
You're right about making something acceptable for them.
I just bought some natural dog biscuits and the ingredients are: Unbleached white flour, rolled oats, blackstrap molasses, vegetable oil and natural preservatives (tocopherols).
But always remember, no ONIONS, RAISINS, GRAPES or CHOCOLATE (especially dark). Can cause renal/liver failure and kill them.
Nah, I would never feed them to the poor dogs. :)
You know, I just had a picture in my head of Zarqawi replacing Robert Shaw's character at the end of "Jaws".
"Nah, I would never feed them to the poor dogs. :)
You know, I just had a picture in my head of Zarqawi replacing Robert Shaw's character at the end of "Jaws"
So be it. To the sharks with the slimmy jerk. A tank full of thirty foot plus Great Whites as you wish!
Of course the first one to bite into him would probably spit him up and go to the end of the tank. He is truly possesed by Satan as far as I am concerned.
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