Why Dog?

I should probably stop reading the news but...here's another one. Another ridiculous story.

"Army stops soldier from bringing home a puppy."

WHAT?!! Have we lost our friggin' minds?! Why is this news? The fact that this has made it on to several LARGE news websites is, in itself, enough to make me want to pour hot coffee in my lap. In case you're too lazy to read the news, let me fill you in. An Army troop is being denied the opportunity to ship home a dog that she and another troop rescued in Iraq.

I try to speak on things I know about, and I consider myself relatively qualified to comment on this outrage. I served in the military and was deployed overseas three times...I've been there...I've seen the conditions...I've interacted with the locals...so bear with me.

The first thing that makes my brain explode is the fact that a soldier is even THINKING of TRYING to get an Iraqi dog back into the US so much so that she has actually put in requests, gone through the process and red tape, waited for the decision, and is now so emotionally "defeated" and "distraught" over being denied her request that she is now in the process of appealing the decision. She (the soldier) is afraid that if the dog stays in Iraq it will get killed.  Big deal.  Sorry...but it's not your problem Soldier.  It's a dog.

The second thing that makes me want to pound my face on the cement is the fact that once the Army denied the initial request (as per DoD regulations) the soldier actually WROTE HER CONGRESSMAN.

Allow me to "fine tune that detail". The Congressman actually wrote a letter to "The Army" on the soldiers behalf. How does one write a ridiculous letter like that?:

          Dear The Army,

          Please seriously think about giving my constituent her stray dog                       back.  She found it in Iraq.

          Sincerely,

          The Stinky Democratic Congressman

          P.S. Vote for me - I'm bored

It gets better, because apparantly somewhere in this stupid madness a reported 10,000 people signed an online petition actually supporting this Government Trained Killing Machine in getting back her dog...that was never hers.  What about the poor Iraqi soldier who's currently wandering the streets with tear-filled eyes looking for the dog he lost in the trash fire?  Who's petitioning for HIM?

BUT THERE'S MORE!  Apparently the SPCA has seen fit to start an entire "division" for saving Iraqi kitties and pooches.  So now, to further waste money, the Program Director for the SPCA's Operation Baghdad Pups division is going to the Middle East PERSONALLY to try to get this idiotic plan pulled off.  Director Crisp of the SPCA is concerned that dogs "left behind" (? what ?) may be killed.  Excuse me?  Since when did we go over there to save the animals?  If you're concerned about things being killed while in Iraq, how 'bout you bring home the WHINING SOLDIER!!!

This whole situation makes me want to just hurl my cookies.  Can someone please tell me why this is happening?  Why is this news?  Why am I wasting your time and mine with this?  Why are over 10,000 nut-jobs catering to this overly selfish soldier who has this freakish emotional attachment to a dog she rescued from a burning pile of trash in a blown-out town halfway across the world?  And why are her e-mails to mommy such a topic of discussion?  Why?  W-H-H-Y-Y-yy-yyy?  Why are people actually traveling overseas for this?  

....why are people going through the passport, customs, flight plans, hotel arrangements, etc. for this dog?  Why are people going through the hoops to get the thing spayed/neutered, shot-up, vaccined, ticketed, and flight-arrangements made to get this dog here to the US?  What if the dog doesn't want to come here?  What if the dog lost was looking for something it lost in the trash and now just wants to go home?  How does stupid crap like this happen?