Animals are property: the violation of soldiers' rights to strays in Iraq.

• Author: Pannella, DanaMarie

1. Introduction II. THE HISTORY OF GO-1B A. Animal Activists React to GO-1A B. Military Inaction and "Sometimes Action" Toward the Enforcement of Pet Provision III. ANIMALS AS SOUVENIRS A. Property Law in the United States B. Property Law in Iraq C. Exportation of Domestic Animals from Iraq and Importation to the United States D. Liability for Souvenir Pets IV. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNS A. Sustaining Good Order, Discipline, and Readiness B. Preventing Health Risks 1. Rabies 2. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder C. Maintaining Good U.S. Relations with Iraq D. Promoting a Positive Global Image V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION

   Three-tour Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman was shocked to hear his rough-and-tumble elite force Marines gushing "' [Y]ou had yuckee little buggees all over you ... now you're a brave little toughee ... yessiree.'" (1) They were talking to a starved, flea-bitten, six-week old puppy, later named Lava, discovered just a few days earlier in an abandoned building. (2) Lava instantly became one of the team. The soldiers fed, slept with, and protected him. In return, he helped them to forget. Lava's presence at the compound "allow[ed] all humans a temporary exit pass from reality ... into the Land of Make-Believe where puppies romp on plush, green grass and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." (3) Lieutenant Kopelman fell especially hard for Lava, who peed in his boots, and eventually shared his sleeping bag. (4)

   Fallujah, Iraq greets American soldiers with "human slaughterhouses ... hooks hanging from the ceilings, black masks, knives, bloody straw mats, ... videos of beheadings ... emaciated prisoners ... [and] stray dogs feasting on the dead." (5) Soldiers are constantly on alert for suicide bombers, snipers, and car bombs, which are so prevalent that the tiniest sound sends their nerves into overdrive. (6) Despite experiencing situations that most ordinary civilians can never imagine, nor wish to imagine, soldiers are human. It is no wonder that a "three-tour tough-guy Marine [tried to] save a little puppy in the middle of the war." (7) However, like most other things in Iraq, keeping dogs like Lava is not as simple as it seems. General Order 1A (GO-1A) prohibited Marines and other U.S. soldiers from keeping pets, and under this law, Kopelman's choices were to "put [Lava] out on the street, execute him, or ignore him as he slowly died in a corner." (8) Violations subjected soldiers to Article 92, (9) failure to obey an order, which meant stiff consequences. (10) As a seasoned officer, Lieutenant Kopelman knew this, and he knew it well. (11) He tried to ignore the small cooing ball of fur, but it was too late. Kopelman sent emails, made phone calls, and reached out to every contact he had in a desperate attempt to bring Lava back to the United States. (12) After months of exasperation, Kopelman's deployment ended and he left Iraq, unsure if he would ever see Lava again. (13)

   The United States Army's "Soldier's Creed" recognizes a motto that has tong been used and honored amongst military forces in various forms: Leave no man behind. (14) It is a motto that calls for responsibility, indicating that the strong must protect the weak or hurt, and above all "stick together, ... never leave a fellow Soldier behind, never." (15) Yet, in Iraq and other Areas of Responsibility (AOR) of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the Department of Defense (DoD) has ordered that soldiers leave their unconventional comrades behind. General Order 1B (GO-1B), paragraph (2)(j), prevents soldiers from "[a]dopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal." (16) In hundreds of cases, soldiers have violated this rule in an attempt to save domestic stray cats and dogs, their comrades and confidants, from certain death amongst the violence occurring in Iraq. Some travel dangerous routes through Jordan, (17) some hide their pets for days to prevent capture, (18) and some never make it, sparing their friend a painful death with an overdose of morphine rather than the sting of a bullet. (19)

   This Note examines how GO-1B(2)(j) violates soldiers' property rights by prohibiting them from owning domestic stray animals found in Iraq. Under both U.S. and Iraq law, property rights allow soldiers to claim and remove domestic stray cats and dogs from Iraq as "souvenirs" under GO-1B(2)(1)(3). (20) This Note makes the case for revision of GO-1B(2)(j) to allow soldiers to care for and possess domestic stray animals, for not only legal, but public policy reasons. Part II provides background information about GO-1B and its predecessor, GO-1A. Part III analyzes property and importation law to explain how a stray animal may be considered a souvenir under GO-1B(2)(1)(3), and also addresses liability. Part IV assesses the concerns of the DoD and suggests that they are outweighed by public policy reasons for revising GO-1B(2)(j) to allow soldier pets. Finally, Part V concludes that GO-1B(2)(j) not only violates the property rights of soldiers, but that the order is misplaced and misguided in its attempt to ensure good order, disciple, and readiness, as well as preserve host relations.

2. THE HISTORY OF GO-1B

   Issued on December 19, 2000, GO-1A was promulgated to govern the behavior of uniformed military personnel serving in areas of USCENTCOM military authority, including Iraq and Afghanistan. (21) GO-1A intended to identify "conduct that is prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline of all forces" and preserve relations between the United States and its host nation by "prohibit[ing] or restrict[ing] certain activities which are generally permissible in western societies." (22) These activities included, but were not limited to: purchase of private weapons, entrance into Islamic religious buildings by non-Moslems, possession or sale of alcohol or drugs, display of pornography, and defacement of national artifacts or treasures. (23) Revised in 2001 and 2003, the order continued to contain a provision prohibiting soldiers from "[a]dopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal." (24)

   On March 13, 2006, General John Abizaid issued GO-1B, which superseded GO-1A. GO-1B, the general order currently in effect for Iraq, contains new, more detailed, and arguably stricter provisions governing soldier behavior. GO-1B, while professing the same purpose as its predecessor, additionally prohibits the photographing or filming of human detainees or casualties. (25) GO-1B also further defines GO-1A's provision on souvenirs. GO-1B prohibits "[t]aking or retaining of public or private property of an enemy or former enemy, except as granted by applicable USCENTCOM waivers and as noted [in subsequent sections]." (26) Similar to GO-1A, however, "[t]his prohibition does not preclude the lawful acquisition of souvenirs that can be legally imported into the United States." (27) GO-1B further defines these items as "tourist souvenirs." (28) Citing concerns about soldiers attempting to bring home "war trophies," Abizaid attempted to curb the removal of potentially dangerous items such as weapons and munitions, by requiring express authorization for removal of these items from Iraq. (29)

   1. Animal Activists React to GO-1A

      Once complaints began surfacing about the DoD's policy on prohibiting and euthanizing soldier pets, animal activists rapidly began attempting to protect those pets and their soldiers. As early as 2005, less than two years after the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Humane Society of The United States (HSUS) issued a letter to General Rumsfeld asking for revisions to GO-1A's animal provision. (30) The letter went unanswered, while hundreds of American soldiers continued to reach out to the HSUS and other animal rescue organizations for help transporting their pets out of Iraq. Online, pleas to allow soldiers to bring their pets home inundated petition sites. (31) Military Mascots, an organization formed by a single volunteer, began providing supplies for soldier pets (32) and small, individual rescue teams flew to Iraq to remove pets. (33) In September 2007, coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International (SPCAI) could not ignore the email of Sergeant Edward Watson, a U.S. soldier desperately trying to get his regiment's dog, Charlie, out of Iraq. (34)

      Discovered during patrol of a high-risk Baghdad neighborhood, Charlie was starving, flea-bitten, and the size of a potato. (35) Despite knowing the risks of keeping the dog, the soldiers snuck Charlie onto a coalition forces outpost, where they cared for him until their fifteen month deployment was about to end. (36) Watson wrote SPCAI of his promise to Charlie, that he would bring him home because, "[w]hen all the guys got to playing with Charlie, we'd forget where we were, at least temporarily ... you could almost imagine being home." (37) Months later, on Valentine's Day 2008, the newly formed SPCAI program "Operation Baghdad Pups" completed its first mission. With costs totaling over four thousand dollars, volunteers from Baghdad Pups flew to Baghdad and picked Charlie up, the only legal way to remove him because of GO-1B's restrictions. (38)

      Since Charlie's rescue, Baghdad Pups has rescued over one hundred and seventy-one cats and dogs for American soldiers. (39) In 2008, Baghdad Pups reported that it received about five new individual requests from soldiers weekly. (40) That year, Baghdad Pups completed fifteen missions, bringing seventy-five animals to the United States. (41) SPCAI generally sends three people, with each person able to rescue a maximum of four animals. (42) The cost for one three-person mission to bring twelve dogs to the United States. amounts to over fourteen thousand dollars after airfare donations. (43) This excludes airline fees for each animal of five hundred dollars for dogs and...