Let Sleep The Dogs of War

danniemcq

Target, 'war hero dog' who saved 50 soldiers in Afghanistan, mistakenly put to death in AZ shelter

Sorry for edit but there is a lot more about dog inthis article than the mirror (suprise suprise)

A heroic dog who saved the lives of dozens of soldiers in Afghanistan and melted hearts on "Oprah" was accidentally euthanized at an Arizona animal shelter on Monday.
An unidentified employee at the Pinal County Animal Care and Control in Casa Grande, Ariz., was placed on leave after putting the female shepherd mix to sleep by mistake, county officials said.
"When it comes to euthanizing an animal, there are some clear-cut procedures to follow," Ruth Stalter, the shelter's director, said in a statement. "Based on my preliminary investigation, our employee did not follow those procedures."
The dog, Target, was a stray in Afghanistan who befriended soldiers and was hailed as a hero after she chased away a suicide bomber who tried to blow up a military base last February.
The suicide bomber had sneaked onto the base and was headed toward a barracks that housed nearly 50 soldiers when Target and two other dogs attacked him, Target's owner, Sgt. Terry Young told Arizona's KOLD-TV.
The bomber eventually detonated himself, killing one of the dogs and severely injuring Target and another dog, Rufus. Five of the soldiers were injured, but Young said in interviews that he and dozens of others would have been killed had the dogs not stopped the bomber.
After they were nursed back to health, Target and Rufus were essentially adopted by the soldiers at the base and "treated like royalty," Young told The Arizona Republic.
Young brought the 2-year-old pooch home with him to Arizona when his tour was over, and Target and Rufus gained national attention after appearing with Young on "Oprah," CNN and news programs.
"I just can't believe that something like this would happen to such a good dog," Young told the Republic.
Target was brought to the shelter after she slipped out of Young's backyard over the weekend, the Republic reported.
Heather Murphy, a spokeswoman for the shelter, told the Republic a neighbor found Target on Friday and called the pound. The dog did not have a microchip or tag, Murphy said.
Young said he found out Target was at the shelter late Friday, but did not pick her up because he thought the shelter was closed for the weekend.
The shelter said a worker mistakenly took Target out of her pen on Monday morning and euthanized her, confusing her for another dog that was scheduled to be put down.
Hours later, Young showed up at the pound to pick her up and was told by the director of the shelter that there had been a mistake and his dog had been euthanized.
Young said the loss devastated his three children, ages 14, 7 and 4.
"The 4-year-old is really taking it hard right now," Young said. "She's saying we need to get the poison out of her so she can come home. She can't grasp the idea that she's gone."
A message board on Oprah Winfrey's website lit up with tributes to Target and reports of her death on CNN and Arizona news websites drew thousands of comments.
"I am heartsick over this," Stalter's statement said. "This is unacceptable and no family should be deprived of their companion because procedures were not followed."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/11/16/2010-11-16_target_hero_dog_who_saved_50_soldiers_in_afghanistan_mistakenly_put_to_death_in_.html#ixzz15XiEyOg2
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/11/17/alg_target.jpg
he's on the right

Duggy747

The end of a fairy-tail

AnonoBoy

That's pretty ruff alright.

jimthemental

Let us all paws in silence.

kylith

In fairness, how was the shelter to know it was a war dog? If it wasn't wearing a collar with the owner's information, and wasn't microchipped then it was an honest mistake. Terribly sad for the family, but still a mistake.

danniemcq

kylith wrote: »

In fairness, how was the shelter to know it was a war dog? If it wasn't wearing a collar with the owner's information, and wasn't microchipped then it was an honest mistake. Terribly sad for the family, but still a mistake.

...

i don't get it?

IITYWYBMAD

kylith wrote: »

In fairness, how was the shelter to know it was a war dog? If it wasn't wearing a collar with the owner's information, and wasn't microchipped then it was an honest mistake. Terribly sad for the family, but still a mistake.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree here. At the end of the day it's a dog eat dog world out there, and while he was probably well treated in the army, I understand that he had a dogs life most of the time.

Every dog has his day, it's a pity his was yesterday. Remember, you can say any stupid thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!

Duggy747

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

I think you are barking up the wrong tree here. At the end of the day it's a dog eat dog world out there, and while he was probably well treated in the army, I understand that he had a dogs life most of the time.

Every dog has his day, it's a pity his was yesterday. Remember, you can say any stupid thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!

Well no need to continue this thread, you've just used up all the puns. :pac:

AnonoBoy

That's the thing about being a war dog, if you take risks you can end up spaying the price.

Brendog

He must have been the Target of an assassination plot

The poor dog
The Sgt should have microchipped/collared her :(

I'm so sad now!

Sticky_Fingers

I PETA the fool who messed up

Peace

I guess we have to take it on the snout like a man and move on.

bonerm

Meh, He knew the risks when he signed up to the military.

Wompa1

I suspect growl play

Voodu Child

I canine barklieve that such a awfwooful thing has happened. Dog.
Did I do it right?

danniemcq

http://images1.memegenerator.net/XZIBIT/ImageMacro/3703795/yo-dawg-wrong-dog.jpg

Ali Babba

For a dog who saved so many lives the owner didn't have much respect for her to leave her in the shelter for the weekend. It's a case of eaten bread is soon forgotten really, poor dog.

bonerm

Ali Babba wrote: »

For a dog who saved so many lives the owner didn't have much respect for her

Pish. I heard they were pedigree chums.

Overheal

Oprah knows how to make it better:

And you get a puppy! And YOU get a puppy! And you get a puppyyyyyyyy!!!

chops1990

People would really hate what the Russians used dogs for in WW2. They trained em to look for food under tracked vehicles. Then ya strap some bombs to em, then when the Germans rolled in in their tanks, ya let the dog go under the tanks and ya press the button, hey presto no more tank!

Clever isn't it? They didn't use em for too long though it just proved too expensive and time consuming to train the dogs.

Manic Moran

chops1990 wrote: »

People would really hate what the Russians used dogs for in WW2. They trained em to look for food under tracked vehicles. Then ya strap some bombs to em, then when the Germans rolled in in their tanks, ya let the dog go under the tanks and ya press the button, hey presto no more tank!

Clever isn't it? They didn't use em for too long though it just proved too expensive and time consuming to train the dogs.

The problem was a bit simpler than that.

Firstly, once the mines were spotted and the ploy known, the Germans tended to shoot at every dog they saw on sight. Even if they didn't hit the dogs, it tended to scare the dogs who would then run back the other way. The Russians, knowing that there were mines (Usually with a magnetic or tilt rod, not remote control) on the dogs which were running back at them, also would shoot the dogs.

The other problem is that Russian and German tanks smelled differenly, the dogs, trained under Russian tanks, would seek for food at the location of the smell that they associated food with. Bizarrely, the Russians never did dispense with the idea entirely, there were still anti-tank dogs in the 1980s.

The rules on pets in Afghanistan and Iraq are a little odd. Officially, no adopted local pets. Health hazard, you never know what wonderful little disease they're carrying. Any animals found on the base would be killed. In practice, they tend to be quite common, usually some sort of compromise was worked out with the local commanders who would look the other way if a few criteria were met, such as getting pet vaccinations.

NTM

Mr Benevolent

Kaboom?