More than two dozen Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd Dogs that were recently retired after detecting landmines in Afghanistan have found new homes thanks to employees of technical services company DynCorp Intl.
The dogs belonged to the Mine Detection and Dog Center, a nongovernmental Afghan de-mining organization. It is supported and advised by DynCorp in humanitarian de-mining operations sponsored by the United States and the government of Afghanistan.
After the dogs’ sense of smell becomes no longer reliable enough for them to perform mine-clearance operations, they faced possible euthanasia. But Lloyd Carpenter, a DynCorp project manager saved a group of retired dogs by placing them with expatriates.
“The dogs performed a humanitarian service to detect landmines so that humans wouldn’t lose life or limb. The companies that work with them should help get the dogs adopted by a family and reward the dogs for their service and loyalty,” Carpenter said.
This was the second group of mine-detection dogs DynCorp employees assisted. In 2006, DynCorp technical advisors retrained 18 mine dogs for other specialties.
In early March, DynCorp, the Mine Detection and Dog Center and the U.N. Mine Action Center in Afghanistan organized a campaign to find people willing to adopt the dogs. The overwhelming response resulted in a waiting list of more than 500 potential adopters.
For more information, visit the Marshall Legacy Institute – a humanitarian relief organization providing mine-detection dogs in war-torn countries – at http://www.marshall-legacy.org.