In honor of Veterans Day, we would like to thank retired Military Working Dogs for their bravery and loyalty while courageously serving and protecting our country.  Dogs have served in combat alongside US soldiers during every major conflict since the American Revolution, but they were not officially recognized until World War II.  Today there are approximately 2,500 Military Working Dogs actively serving our country with an estimated 700 currently serving overseas, trained to perform a wide range of highly specialized tasks. The bond between these dogs and their handlers is incomparable, especially when deployed overseas and working together in the most grueling conditions.  However, it is only until very recently that Military Working Dogs were guaranteed the retirement that they deserved.  Thanks to a series of bills passed by Congress between 2000 and 2015, many War Dogs are now celebrating this Veterans Day by enjoying a quiet retirement reunited with their handlers of whom they so devotedly worked side-by-side with often from basic training through combat.

In the past, War Dogs were considered surplus equipment.  Following their service, especially overseas in noncombat areas such as Germany, Japan and South Korea, they were often kenneled at military bases for indeterminate lengths of time until they were adopted or euthanized.  That all changed though when in November of 2000 President Bill Clinton signed Robby’s Law, which requires all Military Working Dogs suitable for adoption to be available for placement after their service.  Named in honor of a Military K9 who was euthanized despite his handler’s best efforts to adopt him, Robby’s Law makes it possible for handlers and their families to have the right of first refusal at adopting their dedicated partners following the completion of their service.  Even if the handler died or was severely wounded, this law makes it possible for family members to adopt the animal.  If the family is unable to adopt the dog, the animal is then offered to law enforcement, and finally to qualified families who have passed a stringent screening process.

Although Robby’s Law protected these loyal K9 Veterans from unnecessary euthanization, retired Military Working Dogs still faced a major hurdle before being reunited with their handlers.  The Department of Defense was not required to pay for retired War Dogs’ transportation back to the United States.  Military Working Dogs who retired overseas were considered “civilians,” thus making them no longer government property and therefore ineligible for military transport back to this country.  It was the responsibility of the adopting family to pay thousands of dollars for the dog to be transported by private companies, leaving many handlers unable to afford the expensive freight charges.  Fortunately through fundraising efforts many nonprofit organizations, including the US War Dog Association, helped to fund these reunions of retired Military K9s with their handlers, but they were not able to save all dogs.

Once again, Congress intervened on the behalf of Military Working Dogs in 2013 with the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act, which requires that the Pentagon bring all K9 Veterans back to the United States, where they are more likely to be reunited with their former handlers.  This bill authorized the Secretaries of all branches of the military to transfer back to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas any Military Working Dog who is to be retired and for whom “no suitable adoption is available at the military facility where the dog is located.”  Thus making it no longer the responsibility of the adopting family to pay the freight charges.  However, that still did not guarantee the reunion between these loyal Military Working Dogs and their devoted handlers.

Therefore, in November 2015 within the National Defense Authorization Act, President Barack Obama signed a law that not only guarantees the safe return of all retired Military Dogs to the United States after serving abroad, but also reemphasizes Robby’s Law that former handlers are first in line for adoption, and if the handler has died or is severely wounded, family members would then have a chance to take the animal.  As retired Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeff DeYoung stated when reunited in 2015 with his Military Working Dog Cena, “[This bill] will ensure that our four-legged veterans will finally have their chance to come home and live a comfortable, quiet life, hopefully with a handler they deployed with or a fellow Veteran.  These dogs have so much love to give…it’s time we show some in return.”

On this Veterans Day we thank you Military Working Dogs for your bravery and loyalty in protecting our country and the men and women who served beside you.  To learn more about the invaluable service of Military Working Dogs for our country and the programs available to families adopting these retired K9 Veterans, including veterinary care, please visit the United States War Dog Association.