U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a bill allowing American military dogs to retire in the United States as part of the policy update of the National Defense Authorization Act, according to American Kennel Club. With this new law, military dogs are required to be taken back to the U.S. to retire. Handlers of the dogs while in the army will have the first priority in acquiring the dogs once they also retire.
Before this law, dogs were retired overseas and handlers found it difficult to have a request to take the dogs back to the U.S. granted.
Also part of the act is to erase the traditional 20-year, all-or-nothing retirement plan for troops to be enlisted starting 2018, Military Times reports.
The bill signing comes at a time when there are a lot of wounded service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The care for these U.S. veterans is being scrutinized and the Humane Association has expressed the positive effects of allowing military dogs to reunite with their handlers.
"This is a great day for military heroes on both ends of the leash. We believe all our veterans - two-footed and four-footed - should come back to a hero's welcome," said Robin Ganzert, Humane Association president, according to Voice of America.
