Army Shines Light on Health, Care of Military Working Dogs

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Image of an early model of the Canine Thermal Model Monitor (CTMM) Collar, which is currently being developed by USAMMDA and the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) (image courtesy of JHU APL).
Image of an early model of the Canine Thermal Model Monitor (CTMM) Collar, which is currently being developed by USAMMDA and the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) (image courtesy of JHU APL).

June 7, 2022 | Originally published by U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command on June 6, 2022

Like most people at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command’s U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Lt. Col. Emilee Venn is laser-focused on one, single thing:  the health and welfare of the Warfighter. However, as USAISR’s Chief of Veterinary Clinical Operations, Venn is also concerned with the treatment and care of military working dogs. Given the increased role such animals have assumed in recent years – most notably in deployed environments – their specific medical needs have become increasingly important as well.

“The best way to think about it is – wherever our people go, the dogs are right there with them,” says Venn, noting that there are slightly more than 1,800 active-duty MWDs across the globe. “Or perhaps more simply, the dogs go where the people go.”

Venn’s recent speaking engagement at the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s 28th Annual Scientific Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, highlights the growing profile of military veterinary medicine within the larger U.S. medical community. Her presentation, “Canine Combat Casualty Care:  Battlefield Medicine for MWDs,” served as a platform to discuss both the impacts and benefits of military veterinary research and how those principles can be translated across both the Department of Defense and the civilian world.

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