No US Military Dogs Were Left Behind in Afghanistan, DOD Says – By Elizabeth Howe (Defense One) / Sept 1 2021
Pentagon officials say the caged dogs in viral photos aren’t military working dogs, all of which were evacuated.
While animal rescue groups across the globe race to get dogs out of Afghanistan, Pentagon officials want to be very clear: The U.S. military did not leave any of its working dogs behind.
Viral photos purporting to show dogs locked in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport have raised the hackles of U.S. lawmakers and dog lovers alike. But the photos are not of military working dogs, as the American Humane Society and others have suggested.
“To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, to include the reported ‘military working dogs.’ Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue,” Kirby told Defense One.
Kabul Small Animal Rescue is a veterinary clinic and animal rescue organization that has operated for years in Afghanistan. “Currently we are working to help anyone who wants to evacuate their animals do so,” the group wrote on their Facebook page.
