Marines probe puppy-throwing video

[thedrifter]

Marines probe puppy-throwing video

Mon Mar 3, 10:29 PM ET

Military officials are investigating an Internet video that purports to show a Marine throwing a puppy off a rocky cliff.

Maj. Chris Perrine of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii says it appears the man is based with a unit in the islands.

Marine officials are calling the YouTube video "shocking and deplorable" and say it violates "the high standard we expect of every Marine."

The low-quality video shows two Marines joking as one holds up what appears to be a motionless black and white puppy, which he then hurls into a rocky gully.

A yelping sound is heard as it flies through the air.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

View the video (Warning: This video may be disturbing to some viewers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15Ctdlf15cU

Ellie

[thedrifter]

'Puppy Torture' Video Sparks Outrage, Military Investigation <br />
By Jenna Wortham <br />
<br />
A shocking video that appears to show a U.S. Marine tossing a puppy off a cliff has sparked fierce controversy and...

[thedrifter]

Kaneohe Marines Express Disgust Over Puppy Video
Some Say Incident Is Not What Marines, Iraqi Effort Are About

POSTED: 9:22 pm HST March 4, 2008
UPDATED: 9:35 pm HST March 4, 2008

KANEOHE, Hawaii -- Reaction has been strong against the video that appears to show a Kaneohe Marine tossing a puppy over a cliff in Iraq.

"I was pretty much disgusted with it," one Marine said.

That was the consensus from most of the Marines from Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe that spoke with KITV.

The Marines said they had a briefing on Tuesday morning to alert them that the video had circulated around the world.

Sgt. Thomas Wiggins just returned from Iraq.

"We put so much good work and time into (there), and to have one incident that can ruin everything we worked for over there -- so I was pretty upset to hear about that," Wiggins said. "And for something like this to happen, it just throws everything out the window that we've done."

John Newborn is an ex-Marine who served for 26 years. He does not condone the act on the video, but he believes the atrocities of fighting a war could have played a part in the Marine's action.

"You've got a lot of young people out there doing things they were taught was wrong all their lives and all of a sudden it seems like its OK," Newborn said.

Josh Bowden got out of the Marines last year. He served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He said he does not want the incident to stay etched on people's minds.

"That could put a bad outlook on the Marine Corps, but they're not about that stuff. We're trying to help out Iraqi people and stuff like that is just bad propaganda," he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Monroe family threatened over video of Marine tossing pup

By Haley Edwards

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Monroe family received threatening telephone calls this week after a video apparently showing a Marine throwing a puppy over a cliff in Iraq surfaced on the Internet.

Since it was first posted early this week, the video has become an Internet sensation, gaining widespread attention from news sites, bloggers and animal-rights activists. Hundreds of people have left comments on various Web postings of the video. Some posters have included the Snohomish County home address and telephone number of the alleged puppy-thrower, as well as the names of his family members.

"We learned about the ... video and one of our deputies went to check on the family," said Rebecca Hover, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. "They said they had received threatening phone calls earlier."

The U.S. Marine Corps said it is investigating, but would not confirm the man's identity. In the video, a person off-camera uses the Marine's last name.

The family's telephone number has been disconnected, and a woman at the home declined to speak with a reporter Monday night. Social-networking Web pages, including those on MySpace and Facebook, maintained by the Marine and his family members also have been taken down.

The Sheriff's Office was not able to trace the threatening phone calls, but deputies have been driving by the Monroe home to "keep an eye on things," Hover said.

The homemade video shows a young Marine in uniform apparently picking up a black-and-white puppy by the scruff of its neck, addressing the camera, and then throwing the puppy overhand into a desert ravine. It sounds as if the animal is yelping as it falls.

"The video is shocking and deplorable and is contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine," the Marine Corps said in a news release.

The Marines are investigating the video, said Linda Yokoyama, an office assistant at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Base in Hawaii.

"It will take a bit of time. Considering we've only known about it for 24 hours, we're moving as fast as we can," she said. "It's been a nightmare. The video is just horrible. Horrible."

Haley Edwards: 206-464-2745 or hedwards@seattletimes.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Friday, March 07, 2008
REBUILDING IN THE GULF
What's with the puppy-tossing Marine?
Exclusive: Matt Sanchez looks at reaction to video of men presumably killing cute dog
Posted: March 07, 2008
1:00 am Eastern




By Matt Sanchez

The video is grainy, but it's easy to make out the features of the smiling Marine holding a black and white puppy by the scruff. Another Marine is recording the whole scene. The camera focus on the dangling dog, one of the two Marines says the puppy is cute. The Marine pauses, throws back his arm and hurls the puppy through the air, like a lopsided football. There is the sound of the cute canine squealing and the thud of it hitting the earth motionless. [Video is posted online – viewer discretion advised.]

From Iraq, we've seen video of real-time beheadings, pictures of men being led by a dog leash and numerous post-bomb carnage, but despite spectacular events, the American public has been mostly immune and indifferent. Yet, the sight, thought and sounds of a puppy yelping after being thrown into the air and presumably killed is enough to cause a national uproar.

As Americans become more cynical and render the value of human life relative, are we looking for intrinsic innocence in cuddly faces that bark? Or are the images of wounded soldiers, crying mothers and aspiring human bombs pledging allegiance so complicated that it's easier to emotionally invest in the purity of a puppy and condemn the malicious Marine?

Watching the video, I couldn't help but think of how different the rules are in a place like Iraq, a place where dogs are often treated more like rats scampering for food in mounds of trash. I met shepherds who used dogs to herd sheep. I asked one Iraqi what the name of his dog was, but he looked at me confused. They don't name their dogs in much of the Middle East.

Servicemen have to be a bit more attentive. Marines are under orders to shoot any animal that gets too close; the alternative is risking a viral bite and possible infection. Rabies shots are what waited for one Marine from the 5/10 civil affairs unit. Obviously, none of this applies to the Marine who flung the puppy down a cliff – he comes from a different culture.

This Marine came form a culture where we have the luxury of keeping pets and the resources to spend more on four-legged creatures than some peoples around the world can spend on their own offspring; a country where cats inherit millions from wealthy owners, like one cat did in Florida, and where PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) compares a chained elephant in a modern zoo to a chained black slave in 19th century America.

Sympathy is an enormous emotion; it helps human beings understand one another – but how do we understand the abused puppy? Does our own indignation make us feel more human? When we watch the video of the Marine abusing a puppy, do we feel sorry for the puppy, or are we angrier at our own human failing?

Lt. Col. Jay Koppelman showed much humanity when he risked bodily harm and even breaking military law to bring a stray back home with him from Iraq. In his riveting tale, "From Baghdad with Love," Koppelman details just how important his relationship with the abandoned puppy was for his well-being. With each frustrated attempt to get little "Lava" out of the war-torn Iraq, the author wrote of having to save something from Iraq, but it becomes evident through the course of events that the dog saved the lieutenant colonel as much as the Marine saved the dog.

But the dog in the video won't be saved, if the video and puppy were real at all. The images were probably shot last year, and the four-legged critter landed inert at the far end of the cliff. Yet, it's the idea of such an "injustice" that has galvanized the American public.
VIDEO:The relationship between Marine and man's best friend is historically solid. After World War I, the Germans gave Marines their nickname of "devil dog." The Marine Mascot is a stout bulldog. Corporal Martin's military job involves co-habitating with animals. Besides bomb detection, tracking and defense, these canine Marines literally absorb stress in a war zone, because Marines love to pet him.

"That's pretty mean," said the Marine holding the camera to the other Marine shrugging his shoulders.

It's hard to believe what we are seeing. One is tempted to call the whole thing a hoax and believe that it may be a big practical joke. An investigation is under way in Hawaii, where the unit has returned after its tour in Iraq.

"I'm just feeling retarded," is what I think the Marine and presumed puppy killer says, but it's hard to make out the audio. After such an uneven display, we're all a bit confused.

Ellie