Dogs in warfare

From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied, and some continue to exist in modern military usage.

[4] At the Battle of Pelusium (525 BC), Cambyses II deployed dogs, cats, and other animals held sacred by the Egyptians.

[1] Gifts of war dog breeding stock between European royalty were seen as suitable tokens for exchange throughout the Middle Ages.

In the Far East, 15th-century Vietnamese Emperor Lê Lợi raised a pack of over 100 hounds, tended and trained by Nguyễn Xí, whose skills were impressive enough to promote him to the commander of a shock troop regiment.

[8] General Grant recounts how packs of Southern bloodhounds were destroyed by Union troops wherever found due to their being trained to hunt runaway slaves before the war.

In ancient times, dogs, often large mastiff-type breeds, would be strapped with armour or spiked collars and sent into battle to attack the enemy.

Special Operations forces of the US military still use dogs in raids for apprehending fleeing enemies or prisoners, or for searching areas too difficult or dangerous for human soldiers (such as crawl spaces).

[34] Another program attempted during World War II was suggested by a Swiss citizen living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

About the time World War I broke out, many European communities used dogs to pull small carts for milk deliveries and similar purposes.

[37] In August 1914, the Belgian Army used dogs to pull their Maxim guns on wheeled carriages and supplies or reportedly even wounded in their carts.

Already in common civilian use and cheap to buy and feed, the dogs proved hardier and more suitable for military use under fire than packhorses.

[39] The dogs were officially withdrawn from military use in December 1916, although several months were needed before horse-drawn carts and motor vehicles had fully replaced them.

The Dutch army copied the idea and had hundreds of dogs trained and ready by the end of World War I (the Netherlands remained neutral).

The Soviet Red Army also used dogs to drag wounded men to aid stations during World War II.

[42] A 2-kilogram (4-pound) Yorkshire terrier named Smoky was used to run a telegraph wire through a 10-to-20-centimetre-diameter (4-to-8-inch), 21-metre-long (70-foot) pipe to ensure communication without moving troops into the line of fire.

[44] The animal experimentation allowed doctors to test new medicines without risking human lives, though these practices came under more scrutiny after the war.

The mine-detecting war dogs anticipated random shocks from the heretofore friendly earth, making them extremely nervous.

[48] Scout dogs were used in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam by the United States to detect ambushes, weapon caches, or enemy fighters hiding under water, with only reed breathing straws showing above the waterline.

The US operated a number of scout-dog platoons (assigned on a handler-and-dog team basis to individual patrols) and had a dedicated dog-training school in Fort Benning, Georgia.

The buildup of American forces in Vietnam created large dog sections at USAF Southeast Asia (SEA) bases; 467 dogs were eventually assigned to Bien Hoa, Binh Thuy, Cam Ranh Bay, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Tuy Hoa, Phù Cát, Phan Rang, Tan Son Nhut, and Pleiku Air Bases.

[50] Traditionally, the most common breed for these police-type operations has been the German Shepherd; in recent years, a shift has been made to smaller dogs with keener senses of smell for detection work, and more resilient breeds such as the Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd for patrolling and law enforcement.

[51] The latest canine tactical vests are outfitted with cameras and durable microphones that allow dogs to relay audio and visual information to their handlers.

Numerous memorials are dedicated to war dogs, including at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California;[53] the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia;[53] at the Naval Facility, Guam, with replicas at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville;[54] the Alfred M. Gray Marine Corps Research Center in Quantico, Virginia;[55] and the Alabama War Dogs Memorial at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.

[57] Both MWDs and their civilian counterparts provide service in drug detection, sniffing out a broad range of psychoactive substances despite efforts at concealment.

Dogs trained in drug detection are normally used at ports of embarkation such as airports, checkpoints, and other places where security and a need for anti-contraband measures exist.

As with narcotics, trained MWDs can detect minuscule amounts of a wide range of explosives, making them useful for searching entry points, patrolling within secure installations, and at checkpoints.

[61] In court testimony following the revelations of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, it was stated that Colonel Thomas M. Pappas approved the use of dogs for interrogations.

Prosecutors have focused on an incident caught in published photographs, when the two men allegedly cornered a naked detainee and allowed the dogs to bite him on each thigh as he cowered in fear.

[62] The use of dogs on prisoners by regular U.S. forces in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was prohibited by Donald Rumsfeld in April 2003.