Thursday, January 31, 2008

Dog therapy

Here's an interesting video on dog therapy - in Iraq! Apparently the dogs are flown out from the US and help to give some relief to the soldiers in what is undoubtedly (whatever your view of the war) a very stressful situation.

I do wish though that instead of flying dogs in (presumably I am guessing so that they are well trained) that they would adopt dogs off the streets instead. In an earlier post, I wrote about the strict rules the US military has on animals. There are some groups which also try and reunite the dogs with the soldiers once they have returned to the US. In times of stress, the bond that you form with an animal is probably even more profound - and I can't imagine being separated forever from an animal I share my life with, especially knowing that the animal might be in danger.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

the boarding home where i put my dog at? there are a few abandoned german shephards where they were previously our police force's dogs. now that they are old and cannot work anymore, they are to be put to sleep. we humans are the worse if you ask me. and i agree that they could have help the strays instead. at least the strays get something to eat this time being. all in all, these humans are just shameless users. you should see the sad sorry used and abandoned german shephards i mention. tell me, why can't a little of our huge amount of taxmoney go these retired dogs of the police?? why are they so-called renovating those stupid ponds at that national garden with dumb planter boxes where fish gets trapped within, suffer and die?

Dawn said...

Is someone paying for the dogs to be boarded now?

Anonymous said...

Don't want to comment on political issue but sending dogs to a Muslim country seems like a really bad idea. Inevitably some dogs would be left behind - i feel so sad for the dogs who are probably breed for this purpose somewhere in US. Hope they are sterilised!
It is like creating more problems (for poor dogs) to a big mess.

Anonymous said...

Actually there is a book on a dog that was rescued by a US army unit. During a routine search and destroy mission, a group of soldiers heard noises coming from a room, despite standard operating procedures to throw a grenade in and kill whatever is inside. They decided for some unknown reason to storm it instead. What they found was a puppy abandoned and scratching the wall of the house. The puppy was adopted despite the orders that US troops are not allowed pets. And it became the unit's mascot and finally it was sent to USA where it lives a pampered life now.

Dawn said...

Anonymous - yes that's one of the reasons that people want to take the dogs with them as they feel that they may be a lack of homes for the dogs due to various reasons.

Anonymous, yes that's the book I mentioned in my earlier link. They had a lot of problem getting the dog home (and broke some regulations while doing it).

Anonymous said...

Yes, have the book, "From Baghdad With Love" - US propaganda. This is about this ONE dog.

Anonymous said...

Yes, have the book, "From Baghdad With Love" - US propaganda. This is about this ONE dog.

Anonymous said...

Muslims also treat bears badly. I was told that visitors tortured such animals in zoos in saudi.

Dawn said...

Anonymous I don't think it's fair to say that Muslims are more cruel to animals. There are just people who are abusive and those who aren't. When I was doing Mediation, I had quite a few people who were Muslim ask why I was doing it - they were under the impression Chinese people were nasty to cats.

Anonymous said...

It's the Indians who hates cats (also confirmed by my experiences), but they like dogs coz dogs are mentioned as "useful" somewhere in their religion. This was told to me by an Indian, who by the way, is a Muslim.

Anonymous said...

end of the day, i think religions aside, it's the person themselves who decide how they want to treat animals.

I mean u have Muslims that say dogs are dirty etc... but I have friends in Pakistan, supposely a very muslim country who keeps dogs and love their dogs and they are muslims. We have Christians who say that the bible with its line "and on to you Adam I give dominance over all life on Earth" to mean that we humans can do anything we like with animals but you also have St Francis of Assi who is a well known lover of animals and many other Christians that love animals. And the examples go on and on....

For those who say its just a dog or just a cat.... really Im a free thinker who believes that end of the day if there is a GOD. GOD really wont care that much if dog or cat, cow or bird. taboo or not taboo... this are all rules set by humans. And honestly the way u treat an animal that is in a way helpless when faced with a human is reflective of how you treat others.

End of the day I always believe humans like to use religion as an excuse for their bad behaviour....

Anonymous said...

The fish, fowl and every living thing on earth are God's creation and shd be treated with respect.

It is not about religion as i am sure most religions would teach respect to animals.

In ST today - you see 2 bloody dogs in a dog fight in Afghanistan. Yesterday it was cows being abused while on their way to be slaughtered in the US.

It is man's attitude towards animals - not religion - that makes some people cruel and insensitive to the unnecessary suffering of animals.

Dawn said...

I agree - it has nothing to do with religion, race, gender or age. There are just people who behave decently, and people who don't.

Anonymous said...

BTW Anonymous of 1.03pm, there are many Christians who interpret Gen 1:28 in a entirely different way. SOME Christians read "Dominion" as you mentioned but it is not how many other Christians who respect God's creation would read it.

I know you also mentioned St Francis of Assisi. St Francis' love for animals was due to his love and respect for God's creation. He is also well known for many other good work including living&working among the lepers. I'm not a Catholic but St Francis ranks high with me.