Response from Brigadier General Tony Cucolo, Chief of Army Public Affairs: Response to Inappropriate Behavior Toward Injured Dog

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Response to Inappropriate Behavior Toward Injured Dog

Feb 02, 2007

BY Brig. Gen. Tony Cucolo

Chief of Army Public Affairs

 

To All Concerned:

 

My sincere thanks to all who brought to the Army's attention a

personal and unsanctioned video showing three Soldiers behaving in an

appalling and unacceptable manner toward an injured dog in Iraq. I've

read many of your comments on the internet and received letters and

e-mails concerning this tape and am grateful, too, that many of you

recognized the actions of these three Soldiers are not representative

of the US Army.

 

We continue to carefully examine the video footage. We know from the

uniforms and the unit patches the video was shot in the late 2003 to

late 2004 timeframe. Again, we know the unit, but have yet to

identify the individuals who were present three years ago. We

consulted the appropriate experts, who are making inquiries into the

matter, along with the unit's present-day leadership. We are trying

to determine who is responsible as well as what appropriate actions

can and should be taken.

 

Cruelty to animals is not in keeping with our values-based

organization. I ask to you understand this is not at all

representative of our Soldiers. In fact, it has been my personal

experience in 27 years of service, and in deploying to difficult and

challenging environments such as the Balkans in the mid-1990's, and

both Afghanistan and Iraq, that American Soldiers - the overwhelming

majority of all American Soldiers - are kind to animals, in

particular dogs, because they remind us of home. On a personal note,

there has always been a canine companion in the Cucolo family. Like

the vast majority of my fellow Soldiers, I have soft spot in my heart

for all animals.

 

The airing of this video has had other effects, too. Part of my

duties includes training critical communication skills to our senior

officers and non-commissioned officers (sergeants) who are headed to

key command positions. I now use this video in that training as a

tool to show Army leaders the far-reaching impact of the negative

acts of a misguided few.

 

The American Armed Forces remains one the most respected

institutions in the United States today. But all of us in uniform

know how perishable such a position is: the images of a few

undisciplined individuals, the images of heartless acts perpetrated

against fellow human beings or helpless animals, can destroy support

for our institution and all that we stand for. Every day my fellow

Soldiers and their teammates conduct themselves in a manner of which

you could be proud. They commit many acts of personal bravery and

great sacrifice - sometimes resulting in their wounding or death. I

ask all those reading this not to assume those in the video in

question are typical of this wonderful group of men and women.

 

We will continue to pursue this issue and strive to see that this

does not happen again.

 

 

Proudly serving you,

 

Tony Cucolo

Brigadier General, US Army

Chief, Public Affairs

 

--

Kim Bartlett, Publisher of ANIMAL PEOPLE Newspaper

Postal mailing address: P.O. Box 960, Clinton WA 98236 U.S.A.

CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS IS: <ANPEOPLE

Website: http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/ with French and Spanish

language subsections.