During thousands of years of global wars animals have served alongside man, so what makes animals useful in war? A dog's qualities of loyalty, intelligence and devotion are highly valued in their role as pets, and these traits are also attractive to the armed forces. Equines such as horses, mules and donkeys have literally carried man on their backs and all his military supplies to boot. Among their many duties, animal warriors have helped carry messages through the trenches, or flown over them. They have carried ammunition, medical equipment and our wounded. Finally they have given us much comfort and aided in morale. How in turn have we treated them? Sadly thousand of animals in the past have been left on the shores of our enemies to unknown fates as we sailed home after the conflicts. One source states that 8,000,000 animals were wounded or perished in the Great War from all sides. A variety of animals including insects and bacteria in the form of biological warfare have been used in human warfare since ancient times. Horses were probably the first animals to experience war in ancient times. Since then camels, carrier pigeons, elephants, mules, donkeys, bats, and bees have all seen combat in some form. Today military working dogs are the predominate animal still used in combat but marine mammals and equines still hold a position and the latter is having a resurgence in Afghanistan. AUTHOR:
