Dogs Of War

If there were any lingering doubt about the success of the battle of Fallujah,
this news item should dispel it.

"Rabies, and standing water, are our most immediate concerns," said Captain Dennis Staggs, a surgeon with the 1st Marine Exepditionary Force (MEF), adding that among a host of measures suggested to head off a health crisis, medical officers said feral animals should be cleared from the city.

"If you consider the entire public health situation, with nobody in town, there's no public health crisis, and if it is prepared correctly there won't be a health crisis," Staggs said Wednesday.

Standing by his humvee last week in northern Fallujah, marine Lance Corporal Will Lathrop of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit said, "The problem has gotten bad enough that there's actually an order for this," referring to a command issued recently to deal with Fallujah's feral animals.

[...]

A gunnery sergeant stalked past the convoy, tersely ordering his executioners to put on surgical gloves before handling the dead animals, his mouth pulled into the tight grimace of a man trying to finish the job before him as quickly as possible.

"This is hard on these guys, especially killing the dogs. But these animals have been eating dead bodies. They can spread disease," said Lieutenant Aaron Brown, grimly reciting the toll for the day -- several cats and at least one dog.

PETA is going to be all over this.... though I suspect they'll stop short of calling up human shields.

(I've corrected my oversight and provided the link - so the reference to PETA takes on more significance...)

Posted by Kate at December 10, 2004 6:21 PM