The United States State Department says that ten percent of bomb-sniffing canines, lent to countries like Egypt and Jordan in a program to help control and prevent bombings, died after being mistreated. The Inspector General that discovered the disturbing trend now suggests the U.S. suspend the program altogether.
The Hill reports that the State Department’s Inspector General found, in September, that “at least 10 of the 100 explosive-detection dogs sent to Jordan between 2008 and 2016 died of ‘various medical problems,’ while others were living in ‘unhealthy conditions.'” Last Friday, the same inspector general released a follow-up report, adding that they’d “received notice of additional canine deaths” since September” and that the State Department should take immediate action to stop the program.
“Specifically, the report found that two canines died in Jordan between June and September of this year. One died from heat stroke, and the other died from insecticide poisoning,” The Hill said. “Another dog mentioned in the report currently suffers from leishmaniasis, a treatable but potentially lethal disease that comes from insects such as mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, according to CNN.”
The Inspector General’s report from September recounted similar horrors.
“The death of two canines from non-natural causes — namely, hyperthermia and poisoning — since June 2019 raises serious questions about the Department’s contention that it has taken adequate steps to protect their health and safety,” that report noted. “OIG is particularly concerned that the deaths of the two additional Jordanian dogs occurred while four Department-funded personnel were in-country to monitor the care of the dogs.”
Three of ten dogs sent to Egypt also died. At least one suffered from heat stroke.
Initially, the State Department said they were reticent to halt the program, given how important it was to protecting the safety of average Jordanians, who are under regular threat from Islamic militants, from bomb attacks: “[The State Department] asserted that it had taken significant steps to improve the health and welfare of the canines provided to Jordan and, moreover, stated that the program had to continue, regardless of these health and welfare concerns, due to ongoing national security issues in the region.”
Instead, the State Department sent four State Department “mentors” to Jordan to monitor how the dogs were being treated, at a cost of half a million dollars, and adding a veterinarian to the American diplomatic team serving there, for another half million, per the Wall Street Journal. It didn’t work.
Now, the State Department says it’s seriously considering making major changes to the canine exchange: “Any death of a canine in the field is an extremely sad event and we will take every measure possible to prevent this from happening in the future,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.
Photos accompanying the report are heartbreaking and show emaciated dogs who are clearly malnourished and ill cared-for as well as flea-infested, filthy kennels. A whistleblower triggered the Inspector General investigation after seeing a mistreated American dog overseas.
“There are about 135 U.S.-provided bomb-sniffing dogs overseas in Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Nepal, the Dominican Republic and Afghanistan,” the Journal said Tuesday. “The program is implemented by the State Department’s office of Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) and has cost millions of dollars in recent years. A 30-day training program for 10 canine teams costs $640,000, a U.S. official said Monday.”