| Responding to
a request from an Army veterinary officer in Afghanistan, The Humane Society
of the United States and Humane Society International, in collaboration
with the 50 Degree Company and FedEx, arranged to provide much-needed relief
from the extreme heat that military working dogs serving in Afghanistan
have to endure.
Maj. Donna DeBonis was in
charge of about 100 working dogs at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan,
where ambient temperatures can reach 130 degrees in daytime. Besides suffering
heat stroke, the dogs have also had to deal enteritis brought on by food
that spoils quickly in the crushing heat. Army veterinarians, medics and
dog handlers had been working gallantly to combat the effects of heat exhaustion
and rancid food, but it was clear to Maj. DeBonis that the effects of the
extreme working conditions needed to be addressed up front, and she turned
to the nation's largest animal protection organization for help.
In response, The HSUS and
its international arm, his, arranged to purchase 75 cooling pads and 25
cooling vests with additional cooling packs from the 50 Degree Company,
while FedEx generously offered to ship them to Afghanistan for free. The
cooling vests help keep the dogs cool by absorbing excess heat from their
body, allowing the dogs to better regulate their own body temperature.
The vests contain a place for inserts that, once charged in ice and water,
can reach a temperature of 50 degrees. The vests and packs enable the dogs
to keep working safely for hours without the health risks associated from
overheating, while the cooling pads will enable their handlers to carry
food with them and avoid spoilage and serve as cool resting pads for the
dogs.
"Here in southern Afghanistan
we all face the highest temperatures imaginable," said Maj. Debonis, who
has since been sent on another deployment. "Our military working dogs are
wearing essentially fur coats, so they are extremely prone to heat exhaustion.
I am very grateful for the donations from the 50 Degree Company, Humane
Society International and FedEx. These products are exceptional in that
they are safe to use, perform as advertised, and will save the lives of
the military working dogs.
"Humane Society International
is very pleased to be able to help, in some small way, the dogs who serve
beside their human handlers to make a dangerous and difficult deployment
safer for all," said Andrew Rowan, Ph.D, president and CEO of HSI.
The HSUS and HSI had addressed
this issue before, providing assistance to military working dogs in the
Middle East. Back in 2003, the organizations had responded to a request
from a North Carolina animal protection group to provide cooling vests
for dogs from Camp Lejeune, N.C. who were deployed with their Marine Corps
handlers to Iraq in the early days of that war.
The HSUS and HSI wish to
express their gratitude to Kathryn Doherty of the 50 Degree Company for
generously discounting the price of their products for this mission of
mercy, and to Lisa Daniel and the staff of Federal Express Corporate Contributions
and staff for providing complimentary shipping of these supplies to Afghanistan.
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Media Contact: Martin Montorfano,
301-258-3152, mmontorfano@humanesociety.org
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The Humane Society of the
United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization -
backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century,
The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy,
education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty
- On the web at humanesociety.org.
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