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Animals In War

Good Essays

Julia Foster
Mr. Kinney
American Culture Honors
14 March 2014
Animal Soldiers
“Do you give [a] horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? He pauses fiercely, rejoicing in his strength and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing, he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground. He cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds” (Chenery 1).
Over many years the role of animals has gone unnoticed. Throughout the stories of war we have learned of the miraculous things soldiers have done, but nothing was mentioned about …show more content…

Dogs were one of the greatest alliances the U.S has joined with and this alliance would continue to grow and improve war efforts.
In World War II dogs were being used more than ever. Forces began using dogs as defense in hand-to-hand combat. “Cable laying dogs had sizable spools of telephone cable hitched to their backs. They 'd head out into the field so that soldiers on the front lines would be able to communicate with troops back at base camps or other central command units” (Rogak 52) Horses and camels may have vanished during World War II because of the mass expansion of technology, but dogs still remained. Patrolling with dogs lessened the danger of ambush and tended to boost the morale of soldiers.
Just like humans had recruitments animals also had to be recruited. Dogs had to have no health problems or diseases, and had to be around eighteen to thirty-six years old. The dogs must be alert, active, outgoing, and socializing towards people. The also had to have normal mobility at walking and running speeds. The coat had to be clean with no matted fur and they had to have normal dental hygiene with all four K-9 teeth present. The dogs could not be over aggressive do to risk of injury towards handlers and other dogs (Rogak 30).
Over the years stories have been shared about animal heroes. Stubby, was a short bulldog that served in World War I and was in more than seventeen battles. He was the first dog to

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