April 7, 2023 – On Thursday, the Croatian Ministry of Defense confirmed media reports that they are selling their service dogs through a public tender. These are dogs that have been declared unfit for further training in the army, and it is important for them that each of the dogs continues their life as a beloved pet.
As 24Sata writes, Croatian news portals announced that the Ministry of Defense announced a tender for the sale of five service dogs, namely four Belgian and one German shepherd, which were declared unfit for further training.
At an initial price of 100 euros per dog, legal and natural persons, Croatian citizens, can apply for the tender, provided that they submit the offer on the prescribed Public Offer Form, in accordance with the conditions of the public tender.
With this approach to taking care of its service dogs, the Ministry of Defense shows how important it is that every service dog continues its life as a beloved pet, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
They stated that Snježana Grđan, a veterinary doctor from the Ministry of Defense’s Military Health Service, clarified that the dogs for sale were declared unfit for further training in the Croatian Army.
She mentioned that the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces have a training center for handlers and service dogs “Captain Krešimir Ivošević”.
She adds that by decision of the Ministry of Agriculture, this center is registered for the breeding of pets intended for sale, namely German, Belgian and Dutch Shepherds, which are registered with the Croatian Kennel Club and have pedigrees.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Defense points out, their dogs and service dogs of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia can be transferred to other state administration bodies or sold to legal and/or natural persons, which has been carried out for many years in accordance with the Rulebook of the Ministry of Defense on the method of material disposal.
For example, they note, in February of this year, such service dogs were transferred to the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate for the Prison System and Probation, and in previous years they were sold to the Ministry of the Interior.
They emphasize that the service dog’s incapacity for further training means that it is a dog that is completely healthy and physically capable and, due to its poorly developed prey drive or tendency to be overly playful, cannot perform the necessary military tasks.
The Ministry of Defense also points out that the highest offered price for dogs in the public tender, which according to the portals initially amounts to one hundred euros, was determined as a parameter solely because it is the only factor that can be objectively evaluated.
They state as key that every buyer of a service dog signs a contract with them that clearly prescribes and defines the conditions that the future owner is obliged to provide in order for the dog to live in adequate and safe conditions.
If it is determined that the dog is living in inadequate conditions, they say, it can be confiscated from the owner.
“It is precisely with this approach to taking care of their service dogs that the Ministry of Defense shows us how important it is that every service dog continues its life as a beloved pet. Due to all of the above, the lowest possible financial amount for the purchase of a dog has been determined, which is coordinated with the Croatian Kennel Club alliance”, they state in the Ministry of Defense.
In other words, they added, it is a symbolic price that the owner is willing to offer for their future pet.
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