Friday March 13th is National K9 Veterans Day. This day is set up to honor all military dogs.
As a little bit of history K9 Veterans Day was created by Joe White of Jacksonville, Florida. He was Vietnam War veteran, K9 handler and trainer. Joe White died on October 24, 2009 and since then his wife continued the effort to get nationwide recognition for this holiday. New Jersey officially recognized the holiday in 2010.
The United States K9 Corps were created on March 13, 1942. Since then the dogs officially became the part of military service. Border Patrol K9s, Customs K9s, Police K9s, Secret Service K9s, Airport Service K9s and FBI K9s daily work to save and protect the Americans and the homeland.
Just think about all the incredible important and dangerous jobs these Military Working Dogs May Have:
- Assisted in law enforcement.
- Helped in agricultural tasks.
- Helped with bomb-sniffing.
- Aided with search and rescue.
- Served as mission scouts.
- Completed war tasks.
- Helped in drug detection.
- Worked as field or training dogs.
- Employed as therapy dogs.
So, what happens to these incredibly talented and important dogs are retired from duty? Surprisingly, 90% of MWDs end up with their handlers. But then there are still that approximately 10% of military working dogs that become available for adoption.
While helping to honor these first class Military Dogs, if you are considering adoption of a dog, please consider one of these highly trained skilled animals. Here is a link to show possible links to Military Dogs by state. As always- please do your homework with proper research on what will be right for you and your family.
