Laws
In 2000, all the lobbying for the rights of WMD paid off – President Clinton signed into law H.R. 5314, “Robby’s Law”.
The name of the law came from an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois, Robby, who had served faithfully in the military until he developed progressive arthritis and elbow dysplasia, making him no longer able to fulfill his duties. He was transported back to the Lackland Air Force Base, where all U.S. army dogs are trained, to be evaluated for half-time duty. If he couldn’t work even half-time, then Robby would be euthanized. Robby’s handler, recognizing that he would no longer be of military use, attempted to adopt the dog. When he was denied, he went public with the issue, leading to strong moral support. It was this particular case that got Congressman Roscoe Bartlett’s attention, leading him to draft a bill that eventually became what is now known as Robby’s Law. Unfortunately, Robby’s illnesses had progressed too far by this point – he was euthanized on January 19, 2001.
(Pictured above: Robby with his handler. Photo from: http://www.scoutdogpages.com/content/robby.htm)
Nevertheless, this law had strong effects on many future dogs. In April 2001, the first dog since WWII was officially retired form duty – Ronny, the eleven-year-old Belgian Malinois, was adopted by one of his previous handlers, allowing him to live out his days as a pet rather than be prematurely euthanized.
Included in this law are:
- MWDs can be adopted by law enforcement agencies, then to previous handlers, and finally to any other capable citizens, in that preferred order.
- The Department of Defense (DoD) must release yearly reports on all dogs in their program, including those awaiting adoption or transfer, as well as those euthanized, and why they were euthanized.
Unfortunately, one of the shortcomings of this act was the fact that any group that wanted to adopt a dog had to transport it back from its overseas base back to the U.S. This could cost individuals upwards of $2000. In addition, the new owners would remain responsible for any medical costs that the dog required, which could be quite high given the hard life they lived.
This lead to more lobbying, and in the One Hundred Twelfth Congress of the United States of America, Obama enacted some updates to the previous law. These changes include:
- When a MWD is determined to be ready for retirement, and no suitable adoption is available at the military facility at which the dog is located, the dog may be transferred to Lackland Air Force Base or another location for adoption.
- The Secretary of Defense may create and maintain a system that will provide retired dogs with veterinary care, although no funds will be provided from the Government
In the original proposed bill, it was also suggested that the MWDs be labelled as “Canine Members of the Armed Forces”, as opposed to their current label of “equipment”. This particular notion was removed before the bill was passed.
In the future, lobbyist hope that change this label, allowing dogs to be recognized as more than just objects.
MWD work just as hard as their human counterparts, and deserve to be recognized as such, rather than treated as “equipment”. Photo from: http://gizmodo.com/5943301/26-awesome-photos-of-war-dogs-showing-how-badass-and-cute-they-can-be