Military upgrades care for working dogs to keep them ‘in the fight’
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In war zones or on bases in the U.S., military working dogs are invaluable partners for the troops: sniffing out drugs and explosives, going on patrols, taking down bad guys. Keeping the dogs fit and on duty has become a priority.
The military this week formally dedicated a new $15-million, 38,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art veterinary hospital at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for working dogs from all services and the Transportation Security Administration.
Lackland is the site of a working-dog training facility. Since 9/11, the number of military working dogs has increased from 1,500 to 2,500. The base had outgrown its 40-year-old, 15,000-square-foot veterinary hospital.
Dogs badly injured in Iraq or Afghanistan are flown to Germany for treatment. If advanced care is needed, the dogs are airlifted to the hospital at Lackland.
‘We act as the Walter Reed of the veterinary world,’ Army Col. Bob Vogelsang, the hospital director, told reporters. ‘If they can make it back here, they can usually go back to the fight’ after treatment.
-- Tony Perry in San Diego