New Bill Passed to Bring Military Dogs Back Home

by Diana Faria

Published: March 9th, 2016

new bill passed to bring military dogs back home

President Obama signs the National Defense Authorization Act – this means the Military Working Dog Retirement Act can now be enforced, guaranteeing that every single military dog comes back home once retired or decommissioned.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those dogs who are injured overseas or have completed their time serving in the military? Sadly, protocol called for these dogs to simply be left behind in the county that they are serving, hopefully to be adopted by someone who can help them.

Furthermore, the soldiers who fought alongside these dogs and who wanted to adopt them had to pay for all the costs out of their own pocket and were often faced with a giant wall of paperwork to go through.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case. A few months ago, we reported on a bill that was recently introduced to ensure dogs came back after their service overseas. That bill, called Military Working Dog Retirement Act, has become a reality! Late last year, President Obama signed a massive defense bill, and inside that bill was a provision that allowed for decommissioned or injured military dogs to return back to American soil.

While overseas, these dogs are side by side soldiers who are in the heart of combat and they also serve as bomb-sniffers to make sure the road is clear for their comrades. The reason why many of these dogs would be left behind after they’ve completed their service is because they would be considered civilians of that country once they have retired, which means they no longer qualify to travel home on military vehicles. This means transporting them home would be extremely difficult.

Last year in June, the American Humane Association privately funded the transportation of 21 retired military dogs to reunite them with their former human handlers. Then, the AHA held a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill to urge politicians to create a bill to bring back their military dogs rather than leave them in the country where they served. The response was amazing: inside the National Defense Authorization Act, the Military Working Dog Retirement Act was born and now, thanks to many groups coming together to fight for what it right, this bill is a reality!

I can think of no one better to help human veterans cope with everyday life than with the four-legged comrade that ran side-by-side with them in dangerous territories. This act will not only benefit the military dog, which can retire in peace knowing their human handler will always be with them, as well as the human veteran, who can always have a paw to hold to overcome wartime trauma and adjust to civilian life.

[Source: AmericanHumane]

Diana Faria

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Poll Reveals Biggest Pet Peeves of Dog Owners in the U.S.

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Dog Finds A Forever Home After Spending 1,007 Days at Delaware Shelter

Tessy, now a 5-year-old black Labrador retriever mix, spent 1,007 days at a Delaware animal shelter before being adopted into a forever home. This cute pooch arrived at Humane Animal Partners (formerly Delaware Humane Association and Delaware SPCA) on January 17, 2021, hoping to be adopted in no time.Unfortunately, finding her people proved challenging for Tessy. Days, weeks, months, and years went by, and Tessy was still living at the shelter with no prospective adopters in sight. “Tessy is loyal, goofy, snuggly, and remarkably smart,” said Leigh McKinley, a director at the Humane Animal Partners, according to PEOPLE. Like many other shelter dogs, Tessy had some trust issues and was wary of new people and experiences. These problems were the reasons for Tessy’s longer stay at the Humane Animal Partners shelter. “Tessy exhibited fear-reactive behaviors in the form of lunging, barking, and growling towards unfamiliar stimuli. Our goal was to help her overcome those fears and learn to trust humans and her surrounding environment, essentially changing her emotional response from a negative to a positive,” McKinley explained.The shelter used a behavioral modification plan, which consisted of positive reinforcement training techniques to help Tessy overcome her fears. Fixing a problematic behavior takes a lot of time, patience, and effort, but the shelter’s staff didn’t give up on Tessy.“Changing an involuntary physiological behavior takes dedication and consistency to be successful, and while we were determined to see this through, the nature of being in a shelter, with different staff members working with her on any given day, and for varying amounts of time, means the change would take time,” said McKinley. “We also needed to make sure her adopters were the right fit for her. We took a very thoughtful and careful approach to introducing her to people, and it took time for the right family to find her.”Then, almost three years later, all of Tessy’s hard work paid off! After 1,007 days at the shelter, this cute pooch has finally found her forever home. The family who adopted Tessy, met her several times to help her feel at ease. For the adopters, it was love at first sight, and Tessy instantly felt safe around them. “When her adopters Jeanine and Jeff first met her, we all tried to keep a level head about it, not getting our hopes up too high. After their third meeting, though, we could tell Tessy had already established a level of trust with them that we had never seen so quickly before,” said McKinley. Jeff and Jeanine adopted the pooch shortly after the third visit, and the shelter’s staff was ecstatic that Tessy had found a loving home.“It was a rollercoaster of emotions leading up to the adoption day, everything from celebrations to disbelief to sadness, excitement, a bit of anxiety, and everything in between. Mostly, though, we felt proud. Proud of her, proud of everyone who helped get her to this point, and proud of the results,” McKinley shared.  “We all know she’d do okay, we are also quite aware that going from three years in the shelter into a loving home is a big adjustment, and it will take her a while to fully acclimate. We tried to instill in her adopters to be confident and patient but never to be complacent.” the shelter’s director added.It’s important to know that not every visit to an animal shelter ends with ‘love at first sight.’ A lot of adoptable dogs have experienced some level of trauma and neglect, and are generally more anxious inside the shelter. Keep an open mind when visiting your local shelter and remember that each of these pups deserves a loving family and a forever home. Join the PetGuide community. Get the latest pet news and product recommendations by subscribing to our newsletter here.

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