- Please copy your letter to Dept. of Defense offices below. Most important contact on list is first one,
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR SENIOR DEFENSE LEADERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE.*
If you want to send comments, you must copy the text of our sample letter into a word processing
document, change some words, sign/date your letter, and mail it the old-fashioned way.
*There is one web-comment form for the U.S. Department of Defense, listed below.
- Also copy your letter to the elected Senators and Representative in your region.
To identify your federal legislators and find contact info, try:
Congress.org — http://www.Congress.org
USA Senate — http://www.senate.gov
USA House of Representatives — http://www.house.gov
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121
SEND COMMENTS TO:
U.S. Department of Defense ASK A QUESTION/SEND A COMMENT:
http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.aspx
U.S. Department of Defense
Dr. Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Gordon R. England, Deputy Secretary of Defense
1010 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1010
Directorate for Public Inquiry and Analysis
Office of the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
Room 2E565 - The Pentagon
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400
Department of the Army
ATTN: Brigadier General Anthony A. Cucolo III, Chief of Public Affairs
J. Dorrance Smith, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
1500 Army Pentagon, Room 1E475
Washington, DC 20310-1500
ph: 703-695-2057
The Honorable Representative _____________________________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Senator _________________________________
The U.S. Senate, U.S. Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Honorable Defense Leaders and Elected Officials:
Unprovoked violence, even in a war zone, is unacceptable. It does not matter whether the victim is a child, an adult civilian, or a dog. The victim I bring to your attention just happens to be the latter, a disfigured dog trying to flee soldiers as they hurl rocks at him.
An unsettling video obtained from a CD discovered in Baghdad's Green Zone depicts what appear to be U.S. soldiers forcefully pitching rocks at a dog with a spinal deformity. As the dog cries out in pain, the participants laugh and one blurts, “That is the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life.” Another suggests, “You wanna go over and kill it?” Huge Internet audiences have recently viewed this disgraceful video at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6445f9fdd7.
I call for an investigation into this gutless act and urge defense leaders to court-martial any soldier connected with the torture of this dog. Americans do not want their tax dollars wasted on tormenting animals in times of war.
Profound cruelty shames U.S. troops and the nation they represent. Moreover, criminologists and mental health professionals view the intensity of vicious behavior (regardless of the victim's identity) as a precursor to future violence. Testimony at the court-martial hearing for coconspirators accused of aiding one-time soldier Steven D. Green in the murder of an Iraqi girl, 14, and her family revealed Green had once set fire to a puppy and tossed the burning animal off a roof.
Animal cruelty is a key trait in the American Psychiatric Association's profile for conduct disorders. Randall Lockwood, Ph.D., regularly enlisted to aid cruelty investigators, law enforcers, and court officials, describes violence against small or non-threatening creatures unlikely to retaliate as a precursor to assaulting children, the elderly or disabled, or other vulnerable victims.
Who is more helpless than a crippled dog?
Please do not wait for the next violent “prank” to unfold. I respectfully ask the Department of Defense to fully investigate this incident and hold any implicated soldiers accountable. Civilians are arrested and punished for similar crimes. The military must not accept this arrant disrespect for life. Please establish a precedent of intolerance for animal cruelty now.
Thank you,
