CHAPTER IX 

 the employment of dogs in foreign armies 



The French Army 



" With eye upraised his master's look to scan. 

 The joy, the solace, and the aid of man, 

 The rich man's guardian, and the poor man's friend. 

 The only being faithful to the end." 



Crabbe. 



AS I have already mentioned, the French had been 

 experimenting in a semi-official manner for several 

 years before the war. In 19 14, the enormous amount of 

 affairs of extreme urgency which confronted the French 

 War Office, submerged the question of the employment of 

 dogs for the army, and those patriotic Frenchmen, who 

 had been working so hard to bring the matter to official 

 notice for years, had very disheartening experiences to go 

 through, before the actual urgency of their efforts were 

 appreciated. One of the dog clubs sent a number of dogs 

 to the front, but so badly managed was the working, 

 through lack of facilities and official backing, that the whole 

 scheme came near to breaking down altogether. 



In December, 1914, the French newspaper Le Temps, 

 drew attention to the fact that the Germans were using 

 large numbers of trained dogs with their troops, and the 

 question was asked why the same aid was not organized 

 for the benefit of the French soldiers. This announcement 



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