Dumping the dogs of war

I hate these stories. I’m a dog lover. My best friend, Sam, a golden retriever, died 13 years ago and I still miss him everyday. So I try to avoid these stories, but you guys filled my inbox with links all night last night. According to the New York Post, North Carolina-based company, K2 Solutions, which had the government contract for the military working dogs has been doing their best to keep soldiers who worked with dogs in the war against terror from adopting those same dogs. Apparently, owning a veteran dog is a thing these days and civilians will pay to own one – I guess it’s easier to own a veteran dog than to actually do your part yourself in the war.

Daniel, who doesn’t want to use his real name because he’s on active duty, is one of at least 200 military handlers whose dogs were secretly dumped out to civilians by K2 Solutions in February 2014, a Post investigation has found.

At least three government workers were also involved and may have taken dogs for themselves.

It’s a scandal that continues to this day, with hundreds of handlers still searching for their dogs — and the Army, the Pentagon and K2 Solutions covering up what happened, and what may still be happening.

K2 says that it’s too hard for them to track down the soldiers who worked with the dogs, dogs with whom they share memories of their time in combat, but when K2 gets the dogs back from the military, they come with records which include the names of their handlers. Handlers try to contact K2 about their dogs, but K2 just hands them off to the Air Force;

Other handlers say K2 would tell them information about their dogs was “privileged” and instruct them to call Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Staff at Lackland, they say, would send them right back to K2.

“I called K2 in March 2014,” says a handler who asked to remain anonymous. “I said, ‘Can you please help me find my dog?’ They said, ‘No. Call Lackland.’?”

This handler sent The Post an e-mail exchange he had with Lackland. He asked for help, and a Sgt. Tia Jordan replied, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any control over TEDD dog adoptions.” Under her signature is her office: the Military Working Dogs Adoptions and Dispositions Center.

It amazes me how in this day and age people find it so hard to just do the right thing and to do their f’n job.

Category: Dumbass Bullshit