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| Rescuers work to free victims from the rubble. (Wojciech Grzedzinski for The Washington Post) |
“As the city neared its midnight curfew Saturday,
dogs wearing specialized shoes to protect them from injuries were scaling the
mound of debris, sniffing for survivors.” (“When Russia bombs a building full of people, this is the aftermath,” by Siobhán O'Grady and Anastacia Galouchka, The Washington Post, January14, 2023)
War
Dogs
“Man’s best friend” can
be trained
to hunt, to guide, to
guard,
to keep watch in the
night.
There are service dogs
and therapy dogs –
all taking their place
to enhance the world
where humanity’s
footsteps fall.
War dogs are trained as
scouts,
sentries and messengers.
Some are mercy dogs
who find the survivors.
With painful foresight
in times of peace and
prosperity,
mercy dogs are prepared
for
human devastation.
They are fitted with
shoes
to protect them in their
search
as they traverse the
smoking rubble
and shards
of respectable
neighborhoods
devastated by war.
In another time,
they would have sniffed
out
wounded soldiers.
Today they search
for grandmothers and
children.
They seek surviving
citizens
who wanted nothing more
than to arise another
day
to work an ordinary job,
to hold their children
in the evening,
to kiss their loved ones
and joke with their
friends.
A traumatic day in
Ukraine;
war dogs make their way.
They recognize, like
Hindu saints,
the sacred light of
every person,
looking for those who
may have a chance,
finding people who still
have breath,
helping humanity piece
together what remains.
~ Charles Kinnaird
