As the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan Monday, reports claim the military left service K-9s behind.
Photos have been shared on social media of dogs in cages at the airport in Kabul. Veteran Sheepdogs of America, a nonprofit organization, said Monday that they have been working to evacuate dozens of military dogs from Afghanistan.
The organization’s founder, Joshua Holser, is trying to raise $1.67 million for a 737 plane to get working dogs out of Kabul. They tweeted Tuesday, “There’s false information that we are a “scam” that is the FARTHEST from the truth! We have 51 working dogs with our people that we were given the responsibility to get them out of Kabul. This IS happening!”.
Another organization, American Humane, issued a statement claiming the government was giving these working dogs a ““death sentence”. They said, “These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned”.
John Kirby with the Department of Defense said Tuesday, “To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. Military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dog”. He added that the photos “circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under our care”.
