We like to think of dogs as our friends, but they are also tools of war, oppression, and discrimination.
I have written about the dogs of oppression in the Soviet Union and during the civil rights struggles here in the U.S.
What not everyone knows is that dogs were specifically trained, during World War II, to track and bite Japanese on sight and smell.
The program was rolled out on Cat Island, Mississippi, with Japanese Americans forced into detention camps used as bite bait.
The good news, if there is any, is that the dogs could not distinguish between races, and the program was discontinued. Despite their abhorrent and dismal treatment, Japanese American soldiers went on to distinguish themselves for bravery in the European theater of combat.
After World War II, the U.S. Army was desegregated, but the rest of the nation was not, and dogs were still used for oppression.
As I noted earlier this year, the time for police and war dogs may soon be behind us, and as far as I am concerned it cannot happen too soon.
People deserve better, and so too do the dogs.
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