Working dogs left behind in Afghanistan face ‘death or worse,’ animal-rights group says

American citizens and Afghan allies weren’t all the Biden administration left behind in its retreat from Afghanistan.

The U.S. military abandoned its contracted working dogs, according to a statement Monday night by a major animal-welfare group.

American Humane condemned the effective “death sentence” that the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul in favor of the Islamist Taliban militia has spelled for contract working dogs.

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“These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned,” said Robin R. Ganzert, American Humane’s president and CEO.

“It sickens us to sit idly by and watch these brave dogs who valiantly served our country be put to death or worse,” she said.

American Humane, which has trained and rescued service animals since World War I, said it would “help transport these contract K-9 soldiers to U.S. soil” and “provide for their lifetime medical care.”

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SEE ALSO: Pentagon says it didn’t abandon dogs while leaving Afghanistan

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In the statement issued by the animal-welfare group, Ms. Ganzert said contract dogs should have their status upgraded to prevent such abandonments in the future.

“We call on Congress to take action to classify contract working dogs on the same level as military working dogs. Failure to do anything less, is a failure of humanity and a condemnation of us all,” she said.