> British Army spends 'more on dogs than soldiers'
London, June 14: The British Army spends more money to feed its dogs than its soldiers serving in the conflict zones. Figures provided by Tory MP Mike Penning show that 1.51 pound a day is spend on meals for troops, compared with 2.63 pound for the army dogs.
Even the cost for feeding the prisoners at 1.87 pound a day is better than what the soldiers get.
"Troops serving in war zones such as Iraq were being denied decent meals. The US troops are given high-quality meat while British soldiers make do with cheap sausages and chips," said Penning.
Penning said the troops are not getting enough good-quality meals and are missing out on their daily diet of meat and two vegetables.
The armed forces keep 998 dogs for searching, guarding and arrest duties.
"I have been informed that the army cooks are struggling to feed the troops properly on just 1.51 pound a day. This is a derisory amount of money. In contrast, the dogs are being fed on more than 2.63 pound a day," The Daily Mail quoted Penning, as saying.
Another Tory MP, Patrick Mercer, a former army colonel, said: "It is absolutely crazy. The army dogs are important and an expensive commodity, but they shouldn't be fed better than our soldiers."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman disputed Penning's figures and said, "It costs less to feed a dog than a soldier on operation. It varies for dogs as it depends on the size of the dog and the nature of the work. But it works out at roughly 78p a day for an ammunition dog and 1.20 pound for a patrol dog."
She said the dogs make an important contribution to the forces, and it is necessary that they are looked after properly.
The recent strength of the trained British Army personnel dipped below the 100,000 mark for the first time in 200 years, despite the demands of two simultaneous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
