(August 31, 2018 at 5:14 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote:(August 30, 2018 at 7:01 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: Let’s not forget good old USA also trained anti-tank dogs during WWII. American never deployed suicide dogs, but that is likely due more to operational and logistic reasons than humanitarian concern for men’s best friend.
I know the Russians did. Do you have a source for the US doing this?
Wikipedia with inline citation:
“In 1943, U.S. forces considered using armed dogs against fortifications. The aim was for a dog to run into a bunker carrying a bomb, which would then be detonated by a timer. Dogs in this secret program were trained at Fort Belvoir. The dogs, called "demolition wolves", were taught to run to a bunker, enter it, and sit whilst waiting for a simulated explosion. Each dog carried a bomb strapped to its body in canvas pouches, as with the Russian method. The program was terminated on 17 December 1943 out of safety concerns. During the training, dogs often returned to the senders without entering the bunker or waiting there for supposed period of time which would have caused friendly casualties in a live fire situation. It was feared that in the actual battle, dogs would return much more often, scared by enemy fire. Attempts to continue the program in 1944 and 1945 failed.[12]
William A. Prestre, a Swiss citizen living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, proposed using large dogs to kill Japanese soldiers. He convinced the military to lease an entire island in the Mississippi River to house the training facilities. There the army hoped to train as many as two million dogs. The idea was to begin island invasions with landing craft releasing thousands of dogs against the Japanese defenders, then followed up by troops as the Japanese defenders scattered in confusion. One of the biggest problems encountered was getting Japanese soldiers to train the dogs, as very few Japanese soldiers were being captured. Eventually, Japanese-American soldiers volunteered for the training. The biggest problem was the dogs, as they were either too docile, did not respond to training teaching them to rush across beaches, or were terrified by shellfire. After millions of dollars were spent, the program was abandoned.[13]”