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U.S. Air Force working dog and handler check for explosives among boxes of mail received at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq
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U.S. Air Force military working dog during handler protection exercise, Tallil Air Base, Iraq
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."
How about feeding the dogs regular food?
Mine eats what we eat....meat, rice, veggies.
I'm not totally buying this, either. I realize that supplies may be tight over there, but as others said, I find it hard to believe that the Iraqi police or the coalition soldiers would deny them food! And as a dog owner, healthy dogs don't need commercial dog food to survive, no matter what heart-rending TV commercials sell you about your Best Friend. I cook basic, easy stuff for my dogs quite often, as well as giving them kibble.
Dogs need a diet that consists of 40 percent meat, 30 percent vegetables and 30 percent starch for a well-balanced diet.
A simple mixture of (cooked) ground turkey, rice and carrots is cheap, easy and healthy. Ground beef, brown rice, brewer's yeast and carrots are also popular with my dogs.
And I'm not a nut. I'm just into being cheap and healthy and not buying processed "junque foods" for my family or my pets. (Except for crunchy Cheetos; we have a weakness for THE most processed, least nutritious, neon orange foodstuff on the planet, LOL!)
Mine eats cats. There has to be lots of stray cats over there. What's up with that?
This is BS!
Open up a can of C rats, Long rats or whatever and fed the friggin' dogs!!!
Heh, heh...I'm pretty sure the one in the foreground was still thinking about it, but the one in the background was saying "definitely".
This sounds like it may be the problem.
We should be doing without at home to make sure the soldiers and employed animals have what they need to deal with this situation and be successful.
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...
What, no Popsicles? Nobody but nobody walks through the room without offering my parrot a bite of their popsicle. Don't let him get to giving you the "easy way or hard way" look.
She probably slept through instruction of supply proceedures. Wonder how her unit get more ammo and/or MREs.
Yes, the article says its Iraqi police dogs that need the food. Try to remember that Iraqi police dogs are involved in sniffing out explosives that are killing lots of people, including U.S. military personnel and contractors.
And in case anyones wondering the Gabriella Cook is a real person. But was the email to the paper from her?
These are dogs belonging to the Iraqi police. I don't think they were sent over there by the U.S.
Your post reminds me of that MASH episode where the 4077 wanted a pizza oven, and were instructed by the supply guy to scratch out machine guns and write in pizza oven.
and you slept through the article... these are not US dogs ;~D
They are Iraqi dogs... just as deserving cause, not as well supported by their own logistics support.
AP Image
U.S. Air Force working dog and handler check for explosives among boxes of mail received at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq
AP Image
U.S. Air Force military working dog during handler protection exercise, Tallil Air Base, Iraq
Heh. My Daddy used to fuss at us about spoiling our doxie dog, but HE'S the one who scrambled eggs for her every morning! She had a lovely coat, though! ;o)
So what! We would not let EVEN THEIR dogs starve. They do have a host US Unit assigned to them for Logistics.
Hopefully this is just a temporary hitch in those logistics.
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