Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., has introduced legislation to create a medal to honor military dogs that have demonstrated courage and heroism during their careers.
jewishinsider.com
Currently a Representative of Michigan's 7th District, Slotkin has announced a run for the Senate seat held by the retiring Debbie Stabenow.
As man's best friend, the canine is a popular beast for more than its engaging personality, being able to detect dangerous substances and immobilize bad people. Slotkin says she appreciated the work of service dogs during her time with the CIA in Iraq.
It is, however, doubtful if even really smart dogs can understand abstractions like heroism and duty. In general they are trained by food treats and petting for following commands. In fact, domestic animals that obey instructions could very well be less intelligent than their more independent cousins. That's an argument for another day.
The point is that the dog can't understand the meaning of a medal. So bestowing it upon him or her is waste of their time. Unlike military decorations given to human soldiers, which encourage patriotism and enlistments, dogs don't drop into the recruiting office to talk over the available options. Nor do they have an established hierarchy of ranking. No canine is promoted to colonel from "dog" after a successful raid. In fact, dogs quickly size each other up and establish ranks themselves. Maybe that has something to do with smelling one another's rear end, a practice somewhat similar to that of the military itself but more obvious.
Rather than medals dogs are certain to appreciate more a nice piece of filet mignon or even a pound of raw ground beef.
101dogbreeds.com
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