DOD Report on Mishandled Military Dog Adoptions Skips Accusations of Attempts to Sell Retired K9s to Foreign Countries Scheme that kept handlers from their dogs gets little attention from Inspector General

Scheme that kept handlers from their dogs gets little attention from Inspector General

The Department of Defense's report condemning the Army's treatment of former military dogs and their handlers failed to address accusations that some of the dogs were given to a private company that planned to sell them to foreign governments.

The scheme, uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon last year, separated handlers from the dogs with whom they served and hoped to adopt before ultimately collapsing. The plan involved an international security contractor, the former assistant director of the Secret Service, and two men who claimed to be Secret Service agents. It inflicted untold emotional distress on a number of veterans and their families while leaving the kennel owner who nursed the K9s back to health teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Army specialist Jake Carlberg and his dog Abby were one of the teams caught up in the ordeal. After spending over a year together in Afghanistan sniffing out bombs at a rate that made them one of the top dog teams in the area they were deployed, their bond seemed unbreakable.

"He would always say that she was his best friend," Glenna Carlberg, Jake’s wife, told the Free Beacon last year. "They searched for bombs for his company. … They found seven."

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