[The Second Take] Military Dogs Still Treated as Military Equipment

From Lethal Weapons in 'Escape: Project Silence'
Frequently Used as Offensive Tools Since Ancient Times
No Different in Modern Warfare... The Meaning of Medals and Statues

In the movie 'Escape: Project Silence,' military dogs indiscriminately attack civilians. They unleash destructive energy beyond the soldiers' control. These are lethal weapons reborn after ruthless experiments by the military. The aggression of animals has been weaponized. Throughout human history, there have been countless cases of animals being used as weapons. This is even mentioned in the Book of Judges (a book recording history from Joshua to the era of Samuel in the Old Testament). Samson captured 300 foxes, set their tails on fire, and drove them into the fields, vineyards, and orchards of the Philistines, destroying their crops.

Dogs excel at guarding. However, since ancient times, they have often been used as offensive tools. This is because they could cause more serious damage than metal weapons handled by humans. Dogs were forcibly trained to fight and kill and were deployed first in battles. By weakening the enemy’s strength this way, their owners could then attack the enemy camp and complete their mission. A representative example is the Roman army. They held mock battles to train dogs to react aggressively when they saw humans armed with swords and shields. They also trained dogs to wear heavy armor studded with sharp iron nails and charge at enemy soldiers and horses to inflict fatal injuries.

Even in modern warfare, the situation for dogs did not improve. On the contrary, they were often sacrificed in military projects beyond imagination. The Soviet army, in particular, used dogs for suicide bombings. Dogs were trained to eat food under tanks. Starved, they were strapped with high-powered explosives and released toward German tanks. When the dogs went under the tanks, the bombs inevitably detonated. Recognizing the danger, the opposing forces responded with massacres. For example, although the German army used as many as 30,000 dogs, they showed no mercy to dogs in occupied areas. When invading France, civilians killed 26,000 dogs they owned to prevent them from being used by the military.

After World War II, armies began breeding dogs themselves. They also secured the authority to dispose of military dogs at will. Especially in the 1960s, the U.S. military brought about 4,000 dogs to Vietnam to counter the guerrilla warfare of the North Vietnamese army. Relying on their olfactory ability to distinguish scents from afar, the dogs identified the locations of enemy troops ambushed in the jungle. Dogs also found snipers’ positions and tripwires (wires that, if touched by the enemy, would trigger explosives, flares, or signal flares to kill enemies or alert to enemy intrusion), saving soldiers’ lives. After the war ended and the dogs returned home, only about 200 remained. Many died during the war, and those who survived were euthanized or handed over to the South Vietnamese army, which needed war resources. Dogs were classified as military equipment, so disposing of them carelessly was not an issue.

The situation remains unchanged today. Military dogs have only a dog tag, similar to a soldier’s service number. They are classified as equipment among military supplies and have no rank. There have been cases where they received medals or had statues erected in their honor. For example, Lin Tin, who discovered the escape route of armed guerrillas in 1968, and Hunt, who found and detonated a landmine in 1990, saving a squad of soldiers but sacrificing himself. However, no honor speaks of the countless dogs wounded or abandoned in war. They are glorified as heroes to beautify war or inspire patriotism.