Courtesy of Brian Basset & The Washington Post

At the end of the American cavalry era, the Army disposed of its horses by machine gunning them to death. In our war (Viet Nam), the dogs were treated the same way. Only it was done in a more “humane” manner. Over 4,000 dogs served in South-east Asia, some were reassigned to other bases and a few were shipped back to the US.   However, most were killed in a production line fashion. The US Military has pledged never to dispose of military working dogs in such a  manner again. A change in the law now allows  military dogs to be retired after their service is completed. The dogs can now be adopted by civilians.