Is it insensitive to Vets to put up a poster that

[KurtNYC]

highlights the service of dogs in the military?

I live on a main street in a small town and there will be a parade Monday. My door, where the poster will go up, fronts the street and is seen by hundreds of people daily. Dogs get treated like crap in this town -- the area offered for a dog park here was a superfund site. I am not exaggerating -- they literally offered up a toxic waste dump that would require $950,000 in clean up minimum. They are allowed to stop dog owners and force you to show that you are carrying a plastic bag for pick up. If you don't have a plastic bag (no substitutes qualify) there is $250 fine, 2nd offense is $500 and third $1000. And the local paper writes hysterical editorials about how dog poop carries diseases and will pile up and kill us all, etc.

I just want to remind this city that dogs would do and have done anything for us and like all veterans, they deserve much better than what they come back to. The poster is a series of photos:

- Sniffer dogs and their handlers searching for survivors and corpses in the smoldering ruins of the WTC 11 years ago.
- IED detection dogs working in Afghanistan
- Dogs laying on the chests of front line soldiers in Iraq, with both dogs and soldiers smiling
- Paratrooper jumping with the dog across his chest
- Belgian malinoise raiding the bin Laden compound
- the black lab who laid in front of the Navy Seal's casket in January
- the black granite memorial listing all the dogs lost in the battle of Pacific WWII

There is also text: All Gave Some, Some Gave All" and "Thank you for your service"

Any thoughts, guidance or reaction before I put this up?

[snappyturtle]

1. I am not a Vet however, I bet there are Vets out there who

would hang the poster to give the dogs thanks for saving
lives.....sometimes their own. imho

[unhappycamper]

2. You'll get no objection from me. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

3. Veterans have been key supporters of war dog memorials

The two major memorials are at March AFB, CA and Ft. Benning, GA.

Google 'war dogs' for more info on the subject and on veterans' involvement, including testimonials from military dog handlers going back to the Vietnam War.

There also are connections between dogs in military service and those in civilian service, as indicated in this article:

RIVERSIDE: War Dogs Memorial to receive special visitors
Published: 24 May 2012 03:55 PM

Twenty guide dogs in training, along with their puppy raisers, will honor their brave colleagues in wartime service with a visit to the War Dogs Memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside on Sunday, May 27.

Thousands of dogs have served this country in combat.

Thirty certified puppy-raisers from Guide Dogs of the Desert, a Palm Springs-based nonprofit organization, will tour the memorial and the March Field Air Museum as part of the training process for potential guide dogs for the blind. The special tour will be lead by Bob Wendler, director of canine operations at Guide Dogs of the Desert. He is a Vietnam-era veteran and war dog trainer.

Guide Dogs of the Desert breeds, raises and trains guide dogs for the blind and prepares their blind clients to work with their dogs. This year marks the organization’s 40th anniversary.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/riverside/riverside-headlines-index/20120524-riverside-war-dogs-memorial-to-receive-special-visitors.ece

[Siwsan]

4. Absolutely NO objection

I am pretty much in awe of the amazing contributions of military, rescue and companion dogs.

[MineralMan]

5. This vet wouldn't object.

It sounds like a great idea. That said, you can be sure that someone will object. Someone always does.

[Egalitarian Thug]

6. Please do. n/t

[sarge43]

7. Not at all. Their service and sacrifice deserves recognition. n/t