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  • 2021-08-31 (xsd:date)
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  • Did US Leave Military Dogs Behind in Afghanistan? (en)
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  • As the last American troops left Afghanistan in August 2021 after nearly 20 years, a number of rumors circulated on Twitter about the withdrawal. One viral claim was that dozens of U.S. military service dogs had been abandoned at an airport in Kabul: This photograph appears to truly show dogs at an abandoned airport in Afghanistan, but these are not military service dogs. These are rescue dogs who were in the care of Kabul Small Animal Rescue. John Kirby, a spokesperson for the United States Department of Defense, wrote on Twitter: The Military Working Dog Team Support Association, a nonprofit that works to support military dogs and their handlers, also disputed this account, writing on Facebook: We are 100% certain that there are zero US military working dogs abandoned in Kabul. Zero. The US military did not leave a single MWD behind. The United States military evacuated a number of service dogs in mid-August 2021. Here's an ABC News report about some of those evacuation efforts: Richard Engel, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News, noted at the time that many people were outraged that the military was evacuating dogs instead of people. The U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service Facebook page said that all of the dogs from their Canine Training & Operations Center had been evacuated on September 1: The dogs in the viral photograph are under the care of Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR). NPR published an article on Aug. 25 about the group's efforts to evacuate dogs that had been abandoned by people who had fled the area. The NPR report states that these dogs belonged to local Afghans, embassy workers, other rescue groups, and defense contractors who were unable to take the dogs with them as they evacuated: One possible explanation for the confusion over this photograph has to do with the difference between contract working dogs and military working dogs. While the viral photograph does not show any military dogs left behind, it likely includes several dogs who belonged to independent defense contractors. Robin R. Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane, called on Congress to start classifying contract dogs in the same fashion as military dogs: KSAR has been documenting its attempts to get the animals out of the area. As military flights fell through, the group has been working to secure funding for private flights. On Aug. 28 the group wrote on Facebook: Lori Kalef, director of programs at the animal rescue group SPCA International, provided an update on Aug. 31. The SPCA statement said some of the dogs under the care of Kabul Small Animal Rescue were unable to gain passage on evacuating military aircrafts, and that most of the animals were released in the airport. The group plans to return to the airport when it's safe and try to re-rescue any animals that were abandoned. (en)
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