Dogs sent to a war zone. What do you think?

I have been sent an email asking me to sign a petition to try & stop trained army GSDs being sent out to fight with the men in Afghanistan. I'm not sure at present how I feel about this. What do others think? & why>

Dogs provide a invaluable resource in the Army. They save lives and do jobs that no man or machine can perform from mine sweeping and search and rescue to just plain intimidation. They are not really 'sent to fight' per se, most dogs in Afganistan are used to mine sweep, or check for dangerous devices under the cars of the soldiers or along the routes, many are used to patrol and guard the base camps. A trained dog will spot an intruder, or a dangerous device, long before his handler or any equipment can. They are treated very well and with honour and respect.

Personally I salute each and every one of them and think they should long continue their faithful and loyal service.

Oh it's all so pointless to me, like all those horses we lost in WW1 If they shoot or stab our poor fighting soldiers they aren't going to think twice about killing a dog are they! The army guys (for whom I have the UTMOST admiration) asked to be there, or at least knew what they might be letting themselves in for when signing up, whereas the poor defenceless dogs don't have a say in it do they! I don't want them to go

It's a moral dilemma. Great question - and a very difficult one to answer. I think ultimately domestic dogs exist in order to help man. Army dogs are highly trained, well looked after and absolutely invaluable in the job they do. They have undoubtably saved many lives. Very few dogs have what it takes to do the job and those that do seem to enjoy it. I would say let the soldiers keep their dogs.

I think I am like to PO. Don't know really....well half of me says if the dog could volunteer then fine.....but the other half thinks of that poor animal who thinks he's just off for a trip. I'll have to sit and think a lot harder about it. But at the moment the half that thinks 'Poor dogs think they are going on a trip' is winning.

But then I admire all the army guys out there, I couldn;t do that job.

I think they are working dogs that should be allowed to do the job they are trained for and no doubt love.

I wish them all luck xx

I think no the whole I support it. The dogs won't think of the dangers they are in in the same way that the soldiers do.
I'd think diferently if they were untrained dogs who were just, say, being sent across a minefield to set off the bombs.

But I'm sure these dog handlers will look after them as well as they would any of their human colleagues (if not better).

For those unsure, do you support police dog work? They too have a risk of dying in their line of work.

Having people round me that were in the army and in Afghanistan,,,aka steve,, I think its vital these dogs are there,,,for god sake how many young lads life's do they save,,, they do a super job,,,thanks to them many of our young men come back in one bit,,,,
whats next,,, take the police dogs off the street? how many police officers are protected from knifes and so on each year thanks to a well trained dog? then we would need to take the drug detection dogs off the street?
any dog can be hurt in the line of work, geez I have seen farm dogs on three legs, where would you draw the line?

I'm all for our trained working dogs doing the job they are trained for but HERE in this Country, OR helping out in other countries where needed, i.e. earth quake zones, etc. etc. but I'm NOT for sending them off to fight for the reasons we are fighting in Afghanistan! We're never going to win that one, not in a million years, so how many lives have we got to lose before they realise this, let alone the lives of our poor animals also. No, I don't want them to go to Afghanistan where we're fighting a losing battle with imbosciles hidden away in caves, who we will never, ever catch! I'm all for sending them with our army for explosives searching or suchlike, but not for the other uses they're going to be put to endangerouring their lives! Did we use them in Araq then? I don't know whether we did or not, and I didn't realise they were being sent to Afghanistan either. I'm all for them "helping out" in situations abroad, and definitely I'm all for them doing all of their trained jobs in THIS country, but not somebody else's! That's my twopennorth!

sadly its called war, we are also sending our kids out there, many of whom joined the forces to protect our country,, the fact is that they are sent there to fight the same silly fight that may never be won,
The job they are doing is keeping our soldiers safe,,, soldiers from the UK, it makes no diff what country they do it in,