The US Military Did Not Abandon Dogs in Afghanistan
The Claim
In their withdrawal from Afghanistan, the American military abandoned working service dogs at the airport.
News posted on
Emerging story
On August 30th, social media users shared claims that military working dogs were abandoned at the Kabul airport. Users speculated that President Joe Biden allowed the occurrence, with comments including, “They even left the military dogs behind. #BidenMustGo” from Donald Trump, Jr.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: Military-owned dogs were not left behind in Kabul: but there were contracted dogs left behind. Project K-9 Hero founder and former Defense Department dog handler, Jason Johnson was working to rescue around 50 dogs contracted to support the military that were left behind. He noted that it was the responsibility of the contracted company and their employees to ensure the evacuation of the dogs and not the responsibility of the U.S. government.
American Humane, who has worked with the military on animal evacuations for more than a century, denounced the military leaving behind these animals. In their statement, they clarify why the military did not consider the dogs their responsibility: “We call on Congress to take action to classify contract working dogs on the same level as military working dogs,” they said.
SPCA International corrected themselves in a recent press release, with an addendum stating the dogs are not military working dogs, but privately owned by a company.
With the ethical dilemma of responsibility from the U.S. government aside, the dogs were not abandoned by the military.
