May 27, 2004 Update --

In response to the posting of our explanation of the purported U.S. military's position on the stray dog situation in Iraq, we received the following message from Action Against Poisoning, an animal advocacy group that brings into focus and works to stop such inhumane practices as the poisoning of stray animals. Here are excerpts from their statement:

"Action Against Poisoning fights animal poisoning in particular and supports animal protection in general. As you know, a round up of animals often involves the use of poison. Although poisoning seems not to be the case in Mosul, we still want to comment . . .

"We would like to bring to your attention that 'health risks' are used as the most common excuse for extermination of animals. First of all, diseases -- and in particular those that are dangerous to mankind -- are rarely transferred from dogs to humans, and the incidence is near zero in comparison with the diseases spread by people. Of course, dogs 'may' harbor disease, but people who grew up in physical contact with pet or stray animals generally have a better resistance to diseases than those who were raised in sterilized conditions. . . .

"I have met many stray or abandoned dogs in all sizes -- sometimes in packs. They were always shy and curious . . . . I have never been attacked by stray dogs. I have only been threatened by dogs defending something rational like property, their owner or their food. . . .

"Of course, the dogs in Mosul predictably befriended American soldiers, predictably giving these soldiers happy moments in a very unpredictable situation. Predictability at that level is no reason for any dog round up. Especially if you are a soldier carrying a gun, you only shoot at dogs in the extremely remote case that you are attacked. Having said this, you will not be surprised that we fully disagree with your statement: 'To keep the personnel safe from any danger these dogs might pose, a commanding officer may give the order to round up the strays and kill them.' We are saddened by the implicit leeway in the phrasing 'any danger these dogs might pose.'

We hope to have made our point that there is no valid reason, let alone excuse, for killing the Mosul dogs -- or cats, for that matter. We only support a round up of stray dogs for a 'vaccinate, spay, neuter and release' campaign -- which, by the way, would be a beautiful part in restoring the fabric of a normal society. But this, we suppose, will have rock bottom priority in the rebuilding of the Iraq society."