Clearing up False Stories about abandoned U S Military Working Dogs.

Please be assured, those stories are false. The DoD has 100% accountability over every MWD in the program. Please also know that it is false that contractors who are on a DoD Contract Working Dog (CWD) contract are leaving dogs behind. The contracts require those dogs to be returned to the contractor upon completion of the contract.

There is Congressional oversight of the MWD program already and every dog which is removed from service must be reported to Congress in an annual report. The report includes not only how many dogs were taken out of service but also how they were removed from service, including all euthanasias.

What is occurring with dogs in the combat theater is that members of the military are taking stray, feral dogs as pets in violation of DoD policy. There have been several members who have become sick because of violating the policy and one even died from rabies. Those dogs are being left behind because they belong there.

Another thing that is occurring is that some contractors have been working with the Afghanistan and Iraq governments to sell dogs to those countries. Some of those dogs sold have been dogs which are extremely experienced and are already in the country. However, there have been very few of these occurrences.

Why is this important to clear up?

Because there are a very large number of media outlets putting this false information out to the public. The public then becomes enraged and begins to contact their Congressmen. Once a Congressional inquiry is opened, it sets off a long chain of events which ends up putting the inquiry into the hands of the DoD MWD Program offices. Those men and women who work in those positions across the four branches of service are very busy. They are the same people who are trying to run one of the most deployed programs in the military. Every time an inquiry goes to one of those offices, everything has to stop and they have to begin the chain of events to respond to the Congressman. This can literally steal over approximately 500 man hours away for one response. Now imagine what is happening when numerous inquiries are being sent in.

There is an approximate 15 month waiting period to adopt an MWD. So there is no shortage of people wanting to adopt these dogs and you can believe that if a dog can be adopted, it is.

So please, if you see these types of stories, rest assured, our MWDs are being properly cared for.

Sean Lulofs