vet | Blind Bat News

24 OCT 2017 (14:32 UTC-07 Tango 06) 02 Aban 1396/03 Safar 1439/05 Geng-Xu (9th month) 4715

U.S. Army Caisson Platoon, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at the Caisson Stables, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, forced one of its most dedicated personnel to retire after only 15 years of service.

Smokey, a Caisson horse, is retiring after taking part in 4-thousand funerary missions!

Caisson horses are those used by the U.S. Army to pull Caissons, which are converted old-school artillery wagons that carry caskets of important dead people.

When a Caisson horse is about to retire it goes up for adoption, apparently for free! Smokey was adopted by a family in Tennessee.

CREATING DOG WARRIORS WITH HI-TECH $13-MILLION HOSPITAL!

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that these members of people’s families are well taken care of. We call it puppy therapy just because it makes us feel good. I actually had one soldier tell me that pets make him feel at home.”-Jennifer G. Gauntt, Texas A&M University VET

Animal care at Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas, 09 SEP 2017

VET means Veterinary Emergency Team and National Guard personnel from dozens of states have been doing their part, and feeling the love in return: “It can be kind of therapeutic to Soldiers and people. It takes the heartbreak down, takes the blood pressure down.”-Debra L. Zoran, Small Animal Science professor at Texas A&M University