Update: Retired disabled military dog Rocky Has Been Saved!

Retired disabled military dog Rocky dies if not adopted; UPDATE: Rocky is saved!

Photo: Gloria Hillard/NPR

Pets for Patriots is a small charity, but we were able to mobilize 42,393 people* to save Rocky, a three-tour Iraq war canine veteran (*as of 8:15pm ET 8/18/11).

Your donations are needed to save more pets like Rocky: dogs and cats who will never become an overnight internet sensation or have major news media vying to tell their tale. These “last chance” pets – adult and other at-risk shelter dogs and cats – face near-certain death if not adopted. We connect them to veterans and service members who need a new pet friend, arrange access to reduced cost veterinary care and provide direct financial support towards the purchase of pet food and other basics. Your tax-deductible gift is necessary to help us save the next Rocky and, in so doing, transform the life of the veteran who chose to Be A Pet’s Hero^TM.

UPDATE 8/18/11 9:25 AM ET: ROCKY IS SAVED!! We have been informed that Rocky will be adopted. Please DO NOT CALL Camp Pendleton, Lackland AFB or Pets for Patriots regarding his case; we are all overloaded with a deluge of inquiries about his plight. THANK YOU to all who have answered Rocky’s call and helped to assure his final years will be spent with a loving family.

*****

Rocky is a retired military dog who will be put down on August 24 if he’s not adopted. He served three tours in Iraq and desperately needs a loving home to enjoy his final years. Pets for Patriots is responding to a request to help create awareness of this veteran’s plight. We have spoken to authorities at Camp Pendleton in San Diego and confirmed this story.

Rocky currently lives at Camp Pendleton, his home base since entering the Marine Corps in 2004. He served three tours in Iraq between 2004 and 2007 as a patrol and explosives dog, and returned to the states. We had previously noted that his last handler was killed in theater, but have since been advised that is not the case. However, since returning to the U.S., he has not had a steady handler, but has continued to serve on base until March of this year. By that time, a degenerative condition rendered him unable to work and he was retired. Typically an ex-military K9 will be adopted by his handler, but Rocky has no handler to call his own.

The base kennels are not suitable to provide the type of ongoing care and attention that Rocky needs and deserves. And without an individual or family to adopt him, he will be put down. He was recently featured in an article about military dogs enjoying a bright future after service, but that’s not the case for him.

Because Rocky is a retired patrol dog, military protocol does not permit him to be surrendered to a shelter.

Like most military working dogs, Rocky is independent, but he has a sweet temperament and enjoys relaxing in the sun. As a result of his disability, he uses a canine wheelchair and needs assistance to do “his business.” He would do best in a family that can devote a lot of time to him, and that has no small children or other animals. As with many military canines, Rocky shows slight dog aggression. More than anything, Rocky needs someone who honors his service, and who will love and accept him.

Rocky is nine years, nine months old with these known medical conditions:

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia/Enlarged prostate
Mild hip dysplasia L coxofemoral joint, grade I
Bilateral coxofemoral DJD (mild)
Bilateral neurologic defecits rear legs – degenerative myelopathy
Pressure/kennel sores

P.S.: Our thanks to Military.com for sharing Rocky’s story in a hot rush!

P.P.S.: We welcome your comments, but if you use profanity or threaten another user you will be removed and blocked.

Source: Pets for Patriots

Retired disabled military dog Rocky dies if not adopted — Pets For Patriots Blog

Retired disabled military dog Rocky dies if not adopted — Pets For Patriots Blog
Pets For Patriots Blog ^

Posted on Wed Aug 17 2011 19:14:09 GMT-0600 (Mountain Daylight Time) by Pit1

SENT VIA EMAIL

Subject: Retired disabled military dog Rocky dies if not adopted — Pets For Patriots Blog

Three tours in Iraq and they want to kill this Marine.  Disgusting end for one of our veterans. Our military should stand by our K-9 soldiers or leave them alone.   I have forwarded this article on to my congressman.  Prayers up for someone to love and help Rocky.  Read comments after article. 

Carl

http://blog.petsforpatriots.org/retired-disabled-military-dog-rocky/

PLEASE CONGRESSMAN HULTGREN, HELP THIS VETERAN OUT.  THANK YOU. CARL SWENSEN

Retired disabled military dog Rocky dies if not adopted; served three tours in Iraq

Gloria Hillard/NPR

Rocky lost the use of his hind legs during his service as a military working dog. To assist his chances for adoption, he has been outfitted with a dog wheelchair.

Rocky is a retired military dog who will be put down on August 24 if he’s not adopted. He served three tours in Iraq and desperately needs a loving home to enjoy his final years. Pets for Patriots is responding to a request to help create awareness of this veteran’s plight. We have spoken to authorities at Camp Pendleton in San Diego and confirmed this story.

Rocky currently lives at Camp Pendleton, his home base since entering the Marine Corps in 2004. He served three tours in Iraq between 2004 and 2007 as a patrol and explosives dog, and returned to the states after his last handler was killed in theater. Since then, he has not had a steady handler, but has continued to serve on base until March of this year. By that time, a degenerative condition rendered him unable to work and he was retired. Typically an ex-military K9 will be adopted by his handler, but Rocky has no handler to call his own.

The base kennels are not suitable to provide the type of ongoing care and attention that Rocky needs and deserves. And without an individual or family to adopt him, he will be put down. He was recently featured in an article about military dogs enjoying a bright future after service, but that’s not the case for him.

Because Rocky is a retired patrol dog, military protocol does not permit him to be surrendered to a shelter.

Like most military working dogs, Rocky is independent, but he has a sweet temperament and enjoys relaxing in the sun. As a result of his disability, he uses a canine wheelchair and needs assistance to do “his business.” He would do best in a family that can devote a lot of time to him, and that has no small children or other animals. As with many military canines, Rocky shows slight dog aggression. More than anything, Rocky needs someone who honors his service, and who will love and accept him.

Rocky’s known medical conditions:

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia/Enlarged prostate
Mild hip dysplasia L coxofemoral joint, grade I
Bilateral coxofemoral DJD (mild)
Bilateral neurologic defecits rear legs – degenerative myelopathy
Pressure/kennel sores

If you or someone you know has a big heart for this dog who put his life on the line for our country, please contact Camp Pendleton directly and immediately if you have questions about Rocky:

Spc. Joseph Ramsey: (760) 725-5527; email: joseph.t.ramsey@us.army.mil

Spc. Jade Clarke: (760) 725-5527; email: jade.clarke@us.army.mil

If you’d like to adopt Rocky, please fill out an application online. This will take you to Lackland AFB, which processes all requests for military dog adoptions across the United States armed forces.

P.S.: Our thanks to Military.com for sharing Rocky’s story in a hot rush!  And please share this information with anyone who might be able to help Rocky find a forever home… for his service!!

C’mon dog lovers, retired Vets, or anyone with a big heart… putting this dog down is just not right!!

Adopting a four-legged veteran

Benny was declared “excess” by the military and scheduled to be euthanized by January, according to his military medical records.

Today, Benny — a spry German shepherd — is anything but excess to Debbie Kandoll, who found him during a determined search to adopt

Photo – GREG SOUSA / GOLDSBORO NEWS-ARGUS Benny, a former military working dog, was adopted after retirement.

a retired military working dog.

Even at the advanced dog age of 10, with degenerative bone disease, Benny has become an integral part of the Kandoll family since he was adopted from Langley Air Force Base, Va., on Jan. 4.

Kandoll, the wife of an Air Force Reserve officer currently on active duty, wants to get the word out to other military families and civilians that retired dogs are available for adoption at military working dog facilities across the country, as are some younger dogs who may have washed out of the program.

She has launched a Web site that includes phone numbers for 125 military working dog facilities.

The idea of supporting the troops, said Kandoll, who lives near Goldsboro, N.C., “should apply to all veterans, not just the human ones.”

Kandoll said she thought at first that she could adopt retired dogs only through the Defense Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

“People should check with regional facilities to see what is available,” she said.

As for Benny, he’s thriving and his mobility has improved, she said — partly because he now gets to sleep on comfy pillows instead of concrete.

Although Benny is no longer on military patrols and sniffing for drugs, he is anything but retired. He visits hospitals, including the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Durham, N.C., as a certified therapy dog.

Kandoll and Benny make appearances at local events to raise awareness and encourage more civilians to adopt retired military working dogs.

Last year, 360 retired military working dogs were adopted or transferred to law enforcement agencies, according to officials at the Defense Military Working Dog School, with the 341st Training Squadron at Lackland.

Of those, 103 were transferred to law enforcement agencies, 139 were adopted at Lackland and the remaining dogs were adopted elsewhere, many likely by former military working dog handlers.

Under a law passed in 2000, dogs declared “excess” by the Defense Department can be adopted by law-enforcement agencies, prior military handlers and the general public.

“A lot of people still don’t know they can adopt dogs,” said Ron Aiello, founder of the U.S. War Dogs Association and a former military dog handler in Vietnam. “They don’t know dogs were used in Vietnam and that they are being used now. I’d like to see more veterans adopt military working dogs.”

Aiello said he works closely with Kandoll to provide information to people who want to adopt dogs. Interest has come from a number of Vietnam veteran dog handlers, many of whom had to leave their dogs behind in Vietnam.

He and Kandoll think adopting the dogs can be therapeutic for veterans.

By Karen Jowers – Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 24, 2008 11:00:42 EDT

Source:  Sean Hannity

Posted:  Just One More Pet