Video shows allegedly abandoned service dogs in Kabul; Pentagon says those are not our US dogs

September 1, 2021 | | Print Article

Video footage has emerged from Al Arab TV in London that appears to show a number of abandoned service dogs walking around the Kabul airport following the Pentagon declaring they did not leave any military dogs behind in Afghanistan.

SPCA International is claiming that service dogs and their caretakers were not allowed to board a flight and they were simply released into the airport to roam around freely. They contend that the dogs will hopefully be rescued once conditions on the ground settle down.

In addition, ABC7 in Denver is reporting that the dogs were left behind at the Kabul Small Animal Rescue by a security contractor, stating that “Right now, the shelter is home to some 230 animals from four different rescues and a security contractor company that utilized bomb-sniffing dogs.” The shelter was started by an American woman named Charlotte Maxwell-Jones.

“Here is what we know: In the end, the dogs and their caretakers were explicitly NOT allowed to board military aircraft, and numerous private charter aircraft were not granted access to the airport either,” the SPCA reported. “Charlotte was informed that most of the KSAR dogs had to be released into the airport on August 30 as the airport was evacuated – turning once rescued shelter dogs into homeless strays. They were not given access to the flight we had secured to transport them out of the country. They are within the airport in an area used for housing employees at the far end of the flight line.”

“We haven’t been able to confirm the number of dogs released, nor can we confirm whether the U.S. Military evacuated the 46 working dogs that had been under KSAR’s care when they left. We are urgently pressing for more details, and while this is more difficult now that the U.S. military has completely evacuated Kabul, we refuse to give up,” the organization added.

“Moving forward, KSAR’s primary objective is to return to the airport– when it is safe and with the hope of Taliban cooperation–to try and retrieve or re-rescue the animals who were released at the airport. The situation at the airport remains very unsafe, but KSAR is hopeful their staff will be allowed to return to the airport at some point to try to save their dogs. During her departure from the airport on August 30, Charlotte requested the U.S. Military open the bags of dog food she was able to bring into the airport and scatter their contents in the area where the dogs had been released,” the SPCA concluded.

“I am devastated by reports that the American government is pulling out of Kabul and leaving behind brave US military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies,” American Humane President and CEO Robert Ganzert remarked in a statement on Monday.

“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,” Ganzert continued.

Viral pictures on social media allegedly show dogs confined in cages at the Kabul airport after the United States left Afghanistan. Criticism mounted over the military giving their dogs seats on evacuation flights. However, those dogs are considered non-commissioned officers and actually outrank their handlers. The contract working dogs enjoy no such distinction.

If the dogs were released to roam the airport, they are in grave danger from the Taliban as they consider them to be unclean and will almost certainly kill them given the chance.

Former British Marine Pen Farthing managed to evacuate 150 dogs and cats from his animal shelter in Kabul but told the Daily Mail that Taliban fighters stabbed one of his dogs on the way through a security checkpoint to the airport. They also reportedly shot two dogs he left behind with a friend.

The Pentagon is flatly denying they left any dogs in cages, “including the reported working dogs.” Spokesman John Kirby claimed on Tuesday that the dogs were left in the care of Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR).

A charity known as Veteran Sheepdogs of America is claiming that they are attempting to get 51 service dogs out of Afghanistan and are raising money for it. A number of rescue workers and journalists have labeled that drive as a “scam.” The organization is heatedly denying that accusation.

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