Rebecca’s War Dog of the Week: They call it the ‘Walter Reed’ for canines

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

With the number of military dogs in combat zones only continuing to grow, it stands to reason that more dogs in the field will require medical attention. (Like this photo above of war dog, Taker, who’s getting a root canal at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.)

While there are on-the-ground veterinarians standing by in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere military dogs are employed, what happens to those dogs with more severe, long-term injuries? Dogs that need therapy — physical or otherwise — and time to recuperate before they can return to their tour of duty?

Such a hospital exists —  the Holland Working Dog (MWD) Veterinary Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and is reportedly the only one of its kind.

The hospital opened in 2008, with a price tag ringing in at the sum of $15 million. It’s a state of the art, "high-tech" facility in where, "among the hospital’s capabilities are ultrasound, CT scan technology, rehabilitation and physical therapy sections." The hospital even has a behavioral specialist on site to deal with dogs who have PTSD. The Lackland Air Force Base also has a number of other MWD-related programs run on its grounds, including a training facility, an adoption program, and even a DoD puppy program.

The hospital was established in the memory of Lt. Col. Daniel Holland who was killed in Iraq in 2006. "He was the first Army veterinarian to be killed in action since the Vietnam War."

"He’d just be thrilled with the technology and the things that are here today to serve the injured dogs from all over the world," [said Holland’s brother in 2008]. "There might be a shade of embarrassment, but he’d be honored."

Watch this video of military dogs currently residing at Holland Hospital — war dogs getting therapy in water tanks, pretty cool.   

In other war-dog news: Remember Target, the war dog from Afghanistan who was sadly euthanized by mistake? She was named the most heroic dog of 2010 by USA Today’s Paws Print Post. The family of Sergeant Young (the soldier who brought Target overseas), is working to build a no-kill shelter for animals called, Target’s Bunker, a Safe Haven for All Animals.