Save our hero hounds
Anger at plan to put down Army dogs that helped to save lives in Afghanistan
TWO Army dogs which helped save thousands of lives in Afghanistan face being put down next week because officers have been unable to rehome them.
Belgian Shepherds Kevin and Dazz will be given lethal injections unless a campaign to save them succeeds.
The dogs sniffed out explosives on several tours of Helmand Province but were retired from frontline service four years ago and put in the care of trainers at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
Army chiefs had hoped the nineyear-old dogs would be rehomed. But the centre’s commanding officer decided to have them put down after a recent incident in which another dog bit a civilian.
A former police hound named Driver is also due to be put down.
Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, who represents the constituency where the centre is based, called yesterday for the dogs to be reprieved.
And SAS hero Andy McNab has launched a petition to save them which has attracted more than 22,000 signatures. The former soldier, now a best- selling author, said: ‘Service dogs have saved my life on numerous occasions. We have a duty to save them.
‘In Afghanistan when I was on a patrol, the dogs found an improvised explosive device in front of us. I was number three in line and was very, very lucky to survive.
‘They saved countless lives sniffing out explosives when I was in the Special Air Service.’ Other former soldiers and the dogs’ handlers have also written to the commanding officer in protest. One handler told The Sun: ‘People who worked closely with these dogs are devastated at the plans – they’ve begged to save them all.
‘There’s no protocol to decide if a dog is put down. The commanding officer decides and that’s it. It’s such a cruel way to treat animals that have given so much. We’ll do anything to save these dogs. We’ll go to Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson if need be.’
The handler added that the commanding officer had taken an ‘extreme view’ in deciding to have the dogs put down.
Sir Alan said he had written to the Ministry of Defence in a bid to save Kevin and Dazz.
He has also spoken to a dog handler involved with the campaign but said he has been told letters of support offering homes to the dogs have been rejected.
Sir Alan said: ‘These are hero dogs who have fought fearlessly alongside our soldiers. Let us now be the ones to fight for them and give them a chance to live happy lives where they can thrive. It is the least they deserve. Of course, it is of great importance that all military dogs are properly assessed before rehoming to ensure they do not pose a danger to civilians, but only in circumstances where such danger has been properly proven should they be put down.
‘I have written to MoD ministers personally to ask for a reprieve and am awaiting a response.’
Almost 400 dogs are currently working in the Army, detecting IEDs, searching buildings and vehicles, and patrolling key sites. Many have served in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia.
At the end of their service they are sent to highly experienced dog trainers within the Canine Training Squadron at the Defence Animal Centre. Their job is to ‘de- train’ dogs to prepare them for the possibility of being rehomed into the civilian population.
They use techniques to relax the animals and make them understand that they no longer have to work. They aim to rehabilitate the dogs in a controlled and safe way, continually assessing their suitability for rehoming.
Although not all dogs are suitable, rigorous procedures are followed to find them homes where possible and there is a waiting list of applicants prepared to take them. If, at the end of de-training, dogs are considered too old, dangerous, below standard, ill or unfit, they will be put down.
An Army spokesman said: ‘Wherever possible we endeavour to rehome military working dogs. Sadly there are occasions where this is not possible.’
‘It’s such a cruel way to treat them’