Reforms Put Border Dogs Out of Job

Thousands of dogs trained to attack border crossers along East Germany’s borders with the West have been confined to barracks, and nobody knows what to do with them, West German animal lovers said Monday.

As many as 10,000 dogs, mostly German shepherds, were trained to attack East Germans trying to escape to the West.

But the dogs are out of a job now that the Berlin Wall has been breached and border restrictions have vanished, Animal Protection Society head Andreas Grasmueller said.

He said Western Europe’s biggest animal lovers’ society is willing to provide chemicals if the dogs have to be put to sleep. Electrocution is the usual method of killing dogs in East Germany.

Grasmueller said his group is offering the East German government financial and material help to ensure the dogs’ well-being.