Northern California honors military working dogs with new monument
By Jerry Olenyn
Click here for updates on this story
OROVILLE, California (KHSL) — A new monument unveiled Monday at the Butte County Veterans Memorial Park is honoring a different kind of American hero — the military working dogs credited with saving thousands of U.S. service members’ lives in combat zones and on military installations.
The life-size half-bronze German Shepherd statue recognizes the role military working dogs have played in every major U.S. conflict since World War II, serving alongside troops in patrol operations, bomb detection and base security.
The memorial now stands among the tributes dedicated to American service members who died while serving on active duty.
Military officials from Beale Air Force Base attended the unveiling ceremony, joined by several active-duty military working dogs.
Chief Master Sgt. Vanessa Perkins, who oversees the military canine program at the base, said the dogs serve as a critical line of defense for military personnel.
“They can detect — that’s the biggest thing,” Perkins said. “They do patrol work. They check for bombs and explosives. That is the biggest asset they provide to us.”
Perkins said the dogs are trained to identify suspicious activity and help secure military installations from potential threats.
“They help us defend our installation,” she said. “They’re a tremendous asset.”
Military working dogs are specially selected and trained for traits such as responsiveness, drive and focus, according to Tech Sgt. William Mongeon.
“When we’re looking at purchasing dogs, we’re looking at specific behaviors that dogs show at a young age,” Mongeon said. “They show that drive to chase and to bite. They show a good responsiveness to how we interact with them.”
While German Shepherds are commonly associated with military service, officials said multiple breeds are used depending on mission requirements.
There is no single official Pentagon total for the number of lives saved by military working dogs, but the U.S. Army has estimated that each dog saves an average of 150 lives during its service lifetime.
Based on that estimate, military working dogs are believed to have saved more than 15,000 American lives throughout U.S. military history.
Organizers said the Oroville monument is only the fourth public military working dog monument in California and the first of its kind in Northern California.
The state’s other military working dog memorials are all located in Southern California.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.