Dogs in Afghanistan

August 30, 2021

General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr.
Commander, United States Central Command.

The Honorable Dean Thompson
Acting Assistant Secretary
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Dear General McKenzie and Assistant Secretary Thompson:

PETA received a number of communications over the weekend from former and current Department of Defense and Department of State employees who have asked us to contact you about the fate of nearly 200 dogs, including dozens of working military dogs belonging to American as well as Afghan forces. This is what we have been told:

• An estimated 60 bomb-sniffing dogs have been sitting in cages on the tarmac for days (see attached photo), waiting to be flown to the U.S. The military had been working to organize their exit from Afghanistan, but the Department of State was somehow blocking this effort.
• An estimated 60 working dogs owned by Afghanistan are currently kenneled in a hangar at an airport in Afghanistan without adequate access to food and water. The military “wouldn’t let anyone look after them, so they are just dying of dehydration and starvation in … kennels.”
• Between 130 and 200 dogs previously held at the airport have been “released” into the streets of Kabul, including dozens of companion dogs who belong to evacuated American families and don’t stand a chance of survival. One such dog is a pug who belonged to an embassy worker. Many of these dogs had been rescued from the streets of Afghanistan by American citizens. We are told that it may be possible to round them back up for evacuation.

We respectfully request your intervention and assurance that all dogs who can be rounded up and captured before the August 31 deadline be safely evacuated to the U.S. and that measures be taken to secure the welfare and, if possible, the rescue of the Afghan working dogs mentioned above. I can be reached at 757-943-7440. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Most respectfully,

Daphna Nachminovitch, Senior Vice President
Cruelty Investigations Department, PETA

cc:
The Honorable Mark R. Warner, United States Senate
The Honorable Chuck Grassley, United States Senate
The Honorable Patrick Leahy, United States Senate
The Honorable Kathleen Rice, United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Brian Mast, United States House of Representatives