By Rebecca Frankel
Chief Canine Correspondent
The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a call
for able-bodied canines. The LA Times reported earlier this month that the DHS wants to beef up its reserve of bomb-sniffing and border patrol dogs, currently numbering around 2,000.
The criteria? The dogs must be fall within the
age of 12 months to 36 months and should be of the following breeds:
Labrador retrievers, Golden retrievers, German shepherds, Dutch shepherds, and Belgian Malinois. The candidates must be "alert, active, outgoing, confident" who should be able to withstand a series of tests for "courage and toughness including the ability to disregard blows from a stick."
Once again it seems we're crossing this question of whether or not strays can make fitting war dogs. If
the dogs coming from breeders aren't pre-trained, (the DHS has stated the says
that it will handle all training) and the shelter dogs meet the
medical and behavioral standards, why does it matter where the dogs come from? Arguably, using shelter dogs not only places homeless dogs in care, but it would
be far less expensive.
Read more at ricks.foreignpolicy.com
"I can't think of a downside to adopting versus buying these dogs," said Moore. It's the humane and prudent thing to do."
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