U.S. officials knew bomb-sniffing dogs were dying from neglect in Jordan. They sent more.

[Mountain Mule]

Source: Washington Post

Mencey, a pointy-eared, caramel-colored Belgian Malinois, was ready to sniff out bombs when he arrived in Jordan in July 2017.

The 3-year-old did not get much of a chance. Mencey was bombarded with ticks and sandflies while under Jordanian care, and he was evacuated back to a facility in Virginia. A vector-borne disease ravaged his body. His kidneys failed. And less than a year after he left, Mencey was euthanized at the same facility where he trained to help secure a country that ultimately killed him.

The State Department sent dozens of highly skilled explosive-detection dogs to Jordan, even after the agency assessed a high degree of mistreatment and failure to care for the animals in 2016, according to an inspector general report concluded last week. It ultimately led to their early deaths and crushed their spirits so brutally that the dogs “lost the will to work,” the report says.

At least 10 dogs provided to Jordan died of “various medical problems” out of at least 100 canines sent there between 2008 and 2016, the report found, and surviving dogs were starved in kennels smeared with feces and dirt. Dogs were overworked in the desert, suffered hip dysplasia and other conditions. Engorged ticks ringed their ears.

Read more: https://beta.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/16/us-officials-knew-bomb-sniffing-dogs-were-dying-neglect-jordan-they-sent-more/

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Warning! The pictures and commentary which accompany this story are not for the faint of heart. I am sick to my stomach after reading this. Never mind the fact that these dogs are literally worth their weight in gold, continuing to ship them off to countries where they will be treated in the cruelest possible ways is simply immoral. I'll be writing my elected representatives and everyone else I can think of about this. It figures that something this awful would happen under the administration of a president* who has no problem caging children. The cruelty never stops if you happened to be named Trump.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Endless ways to cause suffering for others when the monsters hold the power. n/t

[Tumbulu]

2. so deflatingly true

I just cannot take it, it must have been so heartbreaking for the trainers to send them off.

[Bayard]

3. I can't open the article

I've reached my limit lately on boundless cruelty. It makes me crazy.

Why are we sending dogs like this to Jordan? Are they being sold?

[Mountain Mule]

4. I don't blame you

I'm sorry I read the story. It's so awful and the Department of State is doing NOTHING. From the WaPo story:

A State Department official declined to say if it was confident in the safety and welfare of dogs bound for Jordan in the future.

The agency also disagreed with the investigative recommendation that the program should be halted in Jordan to implement plans to ensure the health and welfare of the animals.

It responded in the report that it could not halt the program because of “national security related efforts focused on protecting American interests” and because “assisting Jordan in combating active terrorist threats would be negatively impacted by such a move.”

Investigators balked at that defense, suggesting that mistreatment harmed their ability to detect threats in the first place.

“Canines lose their effectiveness when their quality of life is poor,” the report said in response.

The United States had provided 169 to 189 active working dogs to nine countries as of September 2018, the report found: Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Jordan and Oman. Jordan received by far the highest number, with 89 active dogs.

Jordan obviously has no interest "in combating active terrorist threats." Otherwise, they would at least be pragmatic enough to treat these highly trained dogs well enough so that they could carry out their work.

It's both heart breaking and maddening. Jordan is throwing our assistance back in our face by their indifference and outright cruelty to these animals. I think the people at the State Department who are continuing this program despite these dreadful revelations should be sent to Jordan themselves and pent up to starve. THEY most certainly deserve it. The dogs most certainly do not.

[Duppers]

6. Please please join me in writing to Pompeo

As even Chuck Grassley has!!

Thanks, Mule!!



On edit:
I wrote in another thread:

Even Chuck Grassley cares!!!

"...Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, requesting more information and a briefing on the issue.
"It is important for Congress to know whether the (program) is operating effectively and efficiently and whether animals involved in the program are being treated according to the humane and ethical standards that the American people undoubtedly expect," Grassley wrote."

[Mountain Mule]

8. You got it, Duppers!

Thanks for the info! Do you have an e-mail address for Pompeo and/or Grassley? Back at you!

[Duppers]

10. Been digging but the only direct way to reach him

Is thru is Twitter acct or snail mail (will never see?).

Twitter: Secretary Pompeo
@SecPompeo


Thank you!

[oasis]

5. Sickening. Someone should make their king aware so he can get involved. nt

[Arazi]

7. Obviously the Jordanians dont value these dogs but tbh Islam considers dogs haram - unclean

I'm going to guess there's a cultural aspect to the neglect because of the disgust for dogs in general unfortunately.

There's been a decade plus to 1. Ensure the dogs are treated appropriately and 2. To have figured out they will never be treated appropriately. Either way it's clear both the State Dept and the Jordanians have lost any benefit of the doubt

Time to bring them all home. Immediately

[Mountain Mule]

9. Could not agree more!

Talk about the banality of evil - what idiot sends these dogs off to a country where the dogs can only come to harm thanks to ingrained cultural attitudes? I have absoilutely no sympathy left for Jordan at this point. Let the men who have abused and killed these wonderful canines go sniff out the bombs for themselves. Good riddance all around.

[benld74]

11. They provide the same care they do ALL veterans

[Bayard]

12. I doubt

They would send expensive military equipment to these countries for free just to see it fall into disrepair and rust. These dogs are worth much more than that.

Don't send any more dogs unless they agree to regular veterinary inspections. If they don't pass, we take the dogs.