中東で米爆弾探知犬死ぬ例相次ぐ、派遣を一時中止

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国からヨルダンとエジプトに送られた爆弾探知犬が死ぬ事例が相次ぎ、両国への犬の派遣が一時中止されている。米当局は、世話が行き届いていないために犬が死んだとしている。（写真は資料写真）
　米国務省の監察総監室（ＯＩＧ）は２０１７年半ば、犬の不当な扱いに関する報告が明るみに出たことを受けて、爆弾探知犬の実態調査に乗り出した。その結果、９月に発表された調査報告で、爆弾探知犬として訓練を受けた約１３５匹の扱いに多くの過失が認められたと明らかにした。
　米国で訓練を受けた犬たちは、テロ対策支援プログラムの一環として１０か国近い国々に派遣されている。
　問題の多くは最初に支援プログラムの受益国になったヨルダンに集中しており、世話が不適切だったために犬１匹が死に、もう１匹は米国に帰還した後に安楽死させなければならなかったことが判明した。
　さらに１２月に公開された新たなＯＩＧの報告書では、６月と９月にヨルダンで計２匹が「不自然な原因」により死んだことが明らかになった。１匹は熱中症で、もう１匹は犬舎内またはその近くでヨルダンの警察が散布した殺虫剤が原因で死んだという。
　また２０１９年にエジプトに派遣された犬１０匹のうち３匹が、肺がん、胆のう疾患、熱中症で早死にしていたことが分かった。報告によると３匹目の熱中症による死亡例は特に不適切な世話と過失によるものだと、獣医師らが指摘している。
　例えばエジプトでは、米当局者が犬舎や犬が配備された空港などに立ち入ることができない。１２月の報告書は米当局に対し、派遣された犬の状況を監視する方法を改善するよう促している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/25-08:40）

The United States has temporarily stopped sending bomb detecting sniffer dogs to Jordan and Egypt after several of the animals died due to what US officials say was lack of care.
Any death of a canine in the field is an extremely sad event and we will take every measure possible to prevent this from happening in the future, a US State Department official told reporters on Monday.
The dogs play a critical role in our CT (counter-terrorism) efforts overseas and in saving American lives, the spokesperson said.
The State Department's own independent Office of Inspector General (OIG) began looking into the well-being of the animals after reports of canine mistreatment surfaced in mid-2017.
In a report out in September, the inspectors discovered numerous cases of negligence in the care of some 135 dogs, including Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds, Labradors, and other dogs trained in detecting explosives.
These US-trained animals were provided to fewer than a dozen countries as part of a counterterrorism cooperation program.
The main concerns were with Jordan, the first beneficiary of the program, where one dog died due to inadequate care and another had to be euthanized upon its return to the United States.
The OIG investigators recommended that the US government stop supplying Jordan with sniffer dogs -- but the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which sends sniffer dogs abroad, refused to comply.
In a new report out in December the OIG discovered that in June and September two other dogs had died in Jordan of unnatural causes -- one due to heat stroke and the other poisoned by pesticides sprayed by Jordanian police in or near the dog's kennel.
The deaths could have been avoided with better care, the report said.
Furthermore, three of the 10 dogs supplied to Egypt in 2019 also died prematurely -- one from lung cancer, the second from gallbladder disease, and the third from heat stroke, an especially terrible death due to negligence and improper care, according to a veterinarian cited in the document.
The investigators renewed their earlier recommendation to stop sending dogs to Jordan, and now added Egypt to the black list.
This time the State Department complied.
We concur with the OIG recommendations to cease temporarily providing additional canines to Jordan and Egypt until those countries implement our requirements to ensure the canines' health and welfare, the State Department official said.
The December report also urged US officials to seek ways to better monitor the sniffer dogs. In Egypt, for example, US officials have been denied access to the kennels or the airport where the animals are deployed.