• PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
    77·
    9 days ago

    Explanation:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog

    They were intensively trained by Soviet military forces between 1930 and 1946, and used from 1941 to 1943 against German tanks in World War II. Initially, dogs were trained to leave a timer-detonated bomb and retreat, but this routine was eventually replaced by an impact-detonation procedure that killed the dog in the process.

    The first group of anti-tank dogs arrived at the frontline at the end of the summer of 1941 and included 30 dogs and 40 trainers. Their deployment revealed some serious problems. In order to save fuel and ammunition, dogs had been trained on tanks which stood still and did not fire their guns. In the field, the dogs refused to dive under moving tanks. Some persistent dogs ran near the tanks, waiting for them to stop, but were shot in the process. Gunfire from the tanks scared away many of the dogs, which would run back to the trenches and often detonate the charge upon jumping in, killing Soviet soldiers. To prevent this, the returning dogs had to be shot, often by their controllers, which made the trainers unwilling to work with new dogs. Some went so far as to say that the army did not stop with sacrificing people to the war and went on to slaughter dogs too; those who openly criticized the program were persecuted by “special departments” (military counterintelligence).[5] Out of the first group of 30 dogs, only four managed to detonate their bombs near the German tanks, inflicting an unknown amount of damage. Six exploded upon returning to the Soviet trenches, killing and injuring soldiers.[5] Three dogs were shot by German troops and taken away without attempts by the Soviets to prevent this, which provided examples of the detonation mechanism to the Germans. A captured German officer later reported that they learned of the anti-tank dog design from the dead animals, and considered the program desperate and inefficient. A German propaganda campaign sought to discredit the Red Army, saying that Soviet soldiers refused to fight and sent dogs instead.[5]

    Another serious training mistake was revealed later; the Soviets had used their own diesel engine tanks to train the dogs rather than German tanks which had gasoline engines.[8] As the dogs relied on their acute sense of smell, they wound up seeking out familiar Soviet tanks instead of the strange-smelling German tanks.[10]

    Ah. Poor pups.

    • PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      4·
      8 days ago

      The initial plan was so much more bearable, too. “Dog trained to leave a timed explosive and run back” - sure, it puts the dog in serious fucking danger, but people are in serious danger too during a fascist war of extermination. Dog has to do their part against the fascist invader, it’s a shitty situation, but I get that.

      But training dogs to be suicide bombers? What, was the projected 5% extra success rate or whatever the ‘improvement’ was supposed to be really worth having that on their conscience? It’s one thing to treat an animal, which cannot understand the situation, as a partner in a project, however dangerous or disagreeable that project may be; it’s another thing entirely to treat them as a tool. Or fucking munitions. Especially dogs, who we’ve bred specifically to trust and rely on us.

      Unfortunately, this sort of lunacy was common in the 20th century, when the notion of animals, in general, as having any interests worth respecting beyond human utility was still not mainstream. Even as late as the Vietnam War, US military dogs were treated as equipment by government policy, and thus either abandoned or euthanized after US involvement in the war wore down.

      Nowadays, military dogs are formally given status and outrank their handlers - while a little humorous and cutesy at first glance, is also a serious acknowledgement that treating them like nameless tools (or more nameless or tool-like than human soldiers, at least) is no longer acceptable.

    • PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      3·
      8 days ago

      Unfortunately, mistreatment of animals that would not pass muster today was widespread in 20th century polities.