MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Police dogs in Iraq UPDATE

• Posted by Beth on January 10th, 2005 filed in General    

Please, spread the word on this! (Trackbacks are re-enabled, by the way.)

Last week I posted a link to a story about an Army Reserve Military Police unit (313th MPD) deployed to Iraq, whose Iraqi police dogs (NOT American military working dogs) were suffering (starving) due to a lack of food supply.

In it, I wrote that the US War Dogs Association had successfully appealed to Hill’s Science Diet for assistance, and Hill’s came through and is now supplying food for the Iraqi police dogs. Problem solved!

Apparently, though, the message has NOT GOTTEN OUT (hey, I’m no Instapundit, after all) enough. The Las Vegas Humane Society, who initially solicited donations to help out, is being overwhelmed and now must return donations. The following message is on the Las Vegas Humane Society website:

Message about Iraqi Guard Dogs

The Las Vegas Valley Humane Society has been involved for several days in helping arrange food supplies for the Iraqi guard dogs reported as needing help in several media releases. We are pleased to report that the problem has been solved. We have worked with Mr. Ron Aiello, president of The War Dogs Association and a long time supporter of war dogs on a worldwide basis, and Senator John Ensign of Nevada, a veterinarian and sponsor of much animal related legislation. Both have been instrumental in solving this problem. DHL the company that flies material for the US forces in Iraq had also offered to transport food and veterinary supplies for the Iraq police dogs. The following e mail is being sent to those who have contacted the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society expressing their concern over the Iraqi guard dogs or offering assistance in arranging food for them.

Dear Friends of Animals:

The nationwide response from compassionate people resulting from news stories about the Iraqi security dogs has been overwhelming. The issue of feeding these dogs has now been resolved and we have been assured that the Hill’s Pet Nutrition company will donate food for the Iraqi dogs and have it delivered on a continuing basis.

We therefore will not have need for contributions of funds for food for the Iraqi security dogs. We understand veterinary medical supplies will be needed and we hope they will be donated.

We believe in a “Donor Bill of Rights” that requires all contributions for a specific cause be used only for that cause. Therefore, all funds donated to the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society designated for the Iraqi dogs will be returned.

Some people offering support interpreted the media stories as reporting problems with the US war dogs deployed in Iraq. We want to emphasize that the dogs involved belong to the Iraq police force. The US dogs are reported to be in excellent condition and receive great care from their handlers.

The outpouring of compassion throughout our country has been overwhelming. I would urge every one to support their local rescue and spay / neuter programs.

For more information on the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society programs click on our website at www.lvvhumane.org.

Judith Ruiz
President Las Vegas Valley Humane Society

Ron Aiello, President of the US War Dogs Association, is asking for the word to be spread. He sent me the following email:

Beth

I have posted again today on My Vast Right wing Conspiracy about the Iraqi Police Dogs . We need to get the message out that it has been taken care of by Hill’s Science Diet.

This has gotten out of control, now we have newspapers and .com’s making some ridiculous statements about our U S Military dogs in Iraq starving and eating scraps, which is not true. (emphasis mine)

Our U S Military War Dogs have plenty of Food, Water, Treats and plenty of loving care by their handlers. I know this from my communications with these Handlers and Vet Tech’s in the Middle East.

There are individual out there who are advertising for donations to send dog food over to Iraq because there are military dogs that are starving and eating scraps.

No one should be accepting donations for this cause, because it has been taken care of by Hill’s Science Diet, and the word needs to get out. I have emailed a number of news medias, but have not heard a word from any of them.

Would you please pass this word around.

Thank you.
Ron Aiello
U S War Dogs Association

For the record, I’ve tried contacting media outlets and a couple of other blogs who have reported on this, but with NO success either. I guess said media organizations and bloggers are only interested in reporting news that might suit their anti-military posture. (Bastards.)

Thank you again, Ron Aiello, and thank you to Hill’s Pet Nutrition (they definitely have a new loyal customer in me, knowing how they supported this cause and even more gallantly, have been supporting American military working dogs for some time now.