This past weekend, photos circulated on social media that appeared to show several contracted military working dogs in cages at the Kabul airport. Since this has come to light, the Pentagon has denied all reports that they left U.S. Military service K-9s in Afghanistan after the last troop withdrawal.
DOD spokesman John Kirby said “To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. Military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs,” in a Tuesday statement. “Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal rescue, not dogs under our care.”
UPDATE: We are securing PPR papers for extract from Afghanistan for the people that can't get on Kabul Airfield & remaining funding. The 51 working dogs are being fed & watered. Thank you for all your generosity through this! Please keep praying!https://t.co/3vaYMb4bWN pic.twitter.com/tvMIHT184K
— Veteran Sheepdogs of America (@VetSheepdogsUS) August 30, 2021
The effort to rescue these dogs continues, as Joshua Holser – founder of Veteran Sheepdogs of America – said that he plans to rescue these dogs by raising $1.67 million to pay for the cost of a 737 plane out of Kabul.
UPDATE!!!! Our efforts of rescuing has expanded to 46 military working & now we are coordinating with our contacts & flights to get the dogs and rescue people out of Kabul on same plane.
— Veteran Sheepdogs of America (@VetSheepdogsUS) August 29, 2021
Thank you for all your help! This is a mess! #Afghanistan https://t.co/3vaYMaMAyd pic.twitter.com/OAtPXANxb6
Additionally, American Humane is standing by to help along the transport efforts and get these contracted K-9 soldiers back on U.S. soil and provide for their lifetime medical care. Dr. Robin R. Ganzert is the president and CEO of American Humane, and he’s appalled at the current situation.
“It sickens us to sit idly by and watch these brave dogs who valiantly served our country be put to death or worse. In order to prevent this tragedy from occurring, these K-9s should be loaded into whatever cargo space remains and flown to safety.”
