Military dogs need food in Iraq

[delidog]

This Needs to be a Priority!!!

[joycenalex]

let me make sure i'm understanding this....the american dogs ARE being fed by the US military and fine with their food. the iraqi police dogs need food and the las vegas humane society is taking the lead in getting food for them. given how bad things are for the human iraqi police humans, things got to be horrid for the dogs.

[lbaker]

That was my take on it Joyce. I've been wrong before but this is what I'm understanding from reports I've been reading.

[jackiesdaisy]

Lizbud, just a joke, where's your sense of humor?
Jackie

[RICHARD]

I thought that since everyone cares so much about these dogs, the donation will be made in the name of everyone who posted on the thread.

[lizbud]

Another update. I'm re-printing this as a reminder of all the
good things that humans are capable of. For every sick prevert
who hurts an animal, there are thousands of us who love and
care for animals. WE are the majority.


CANINE CARE: Plea for dog food answered in full

Nevadan's bid to help feed starving police dogs in Iraq sparks outpouring of goodwill, complimentary kibble

By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL





A local Army Reserve captain's plea for help feeding Iraqi police dogs has been answered without a single bag of kibble having to be flown out of Las Vegas.

Congressional sources con- firmed Friday that Hill's Pet Nutrition in Topeka, Kan., arranged for a continuous, complimentary supply of its Science Diet product to be made available at an Army and Air Force Exchange Service site near Baghdad specifically to feed 13 Iraqi Police Academy dogs.

Staff members for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., had been investigating the matter after Capt. Gabriella Cook e-mailed friends in the Las Vegas Valley on Dec. 28, urging them to send dry dog food for police dogs owned by the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

Cook's message said the unit of explosive-sniffing and attack dogs -- 12 German shepherds and one black Labrador retriever -- was starving, having to rely only on table scraps and garbage for survival. Cook is commander of the Army Reserve's 313th Military Police Detachment that arrived in Iraq in mid-December.

In a telephone interview late Friday, a Hill's Pet Nutrition official said she had contacted Cook by e-mail, saying arrangements had been made to make the food available at the exchange near Baghdad.

"Their plan is to convoy the product into the facility," said the official, Joyce Waida, director of special markets for the company.

"Another 30,000 pounds is en route, some by air, some by boat," she said, explaining that not all of the food is for Iraqi national working dogs but also for U.S. military dogs in the war zone.

Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said the community response to the senator urging help for the dogs "was incredible. We had dozens of calls and e-mails."

Likewise, Berkley released a comment through her chief of staff, Richard Urey, saying, "I am thrilled and my heart is touched that so many people stepped up immediately to help the dogs in Iraq.

"The makers of Science Diet deserve a huge thank you. The better the care and feeding the security dogs of Iraq receive, the better they can do their life-saving jobs amid the dangers," Berkley stated.

In Las Vegas, the president of a nonprofit group that been collecting donations to provide the Iraqi police dogs with food said she will return any money she receives for that effort.

Judith Ruiz, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, tried Friday to return a $5,000 check that Henderson sports handicapper Wayne Allyn Root had given her but Root requested that she use the money instead to take care of dogs and cats locally.

Ruiz said she received calls and e-mails from across the nation as word spread about the hungry Iraqi dogs. An air freight provider had offered to fly donated dog food to Baghdad.

"All across the country the love and compassion for these animals is absolutely extraordinary," Ruiz said. "It's very heart-warming, the emotions and the commitment."