June 2, 2005

By USA Today

HUSAYBAH, Iraq — A pair of Navy corpsmen went on a scavenging mission in a trash dump outside Camp Gannon here at the edge of town in March. Their mission: Bring back a pet dog for the Marines.

Michael Ledbetter, 23, of Ballinger, Texas, and Chad Martin, 25, of Fort Worth plucked three mongrel pups from their sour-smelling bed, immunized them with veterinarian supplies they discovered in camp, gave them baths and turned them over to the men.

That's against military rules, strictly interpreted. U.S. troops in Iraq aren't allowed to have pets. And the wild dogs of the desert, which feed on the troops' garbage, are viewed as menaces.

At larger military bases than this one, private contractors set steel traps for the dogs, and the animals are euthanized. Troops who try to adopt them can be punished.

But here at Camp Gannon, where mortar and rocket fire are daily occurrences, the officers in charge convened an informal powwow, and the pups' adoption was approved.

"They're unofficial pets, that's for sure, but everybody knows about them," says camp physician Lt. Scott Wichman of Rochester, Minn., who attended the confab that decided the dogs' fate. He says the pups are morale boosters.

"It gives them a sense of home and something to take care of," he says. "They truly are community dogs."

Says Ledbetter, the Navy corpsman: "The Internet and phones are fine, but it's nice to have a dog running around. It reminds you of home."

In April, Wayne Pacelle, head of the Humane Society of the United States, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking the Pentagon to stop the euthanasia of troops' pets and to drop its prohibition against care of animals in the war zone. He also asked the Pentagon to authorize the troops to ship home healthy animals.

"The bond between humans and animals does not compromise character or morale," he wrote. "Rather, it enhances them."

Ledbetter and Martin would settle for just being able to turn over their growing pups to the next rotation of troops who will arrive at Camp Gannon this fall.

Today, the pups have names — Lunchbox, Seven Ton and Sharpshooter — and duty rosters. Lunchbox sleeps beneath the corpsmen's cots but trots out regularly to the tank post.

Seven Ton, who is named for the Marines' big transportation trucks, lives with the mechanics, while Sharpshooter is the snipers' mascot.
Ellie