Watchdog barks at feds to boost health standards for working dogs

The Government Accountability Office says federal departments need to adopt a full range of health standards for the thousands of dogs that are employed by the government.

The report said standards aimed at preventing abuse and neglect of these dogs are missing in several departments, as are standards for granting them adequate rest periods during the day. Pete Kasperowicz is a politics editor at Fox News Digital.

"[A]bout half of the federally managed programs do not address abuse and neglect or requirements for rest and duration of on-duty working time in their policies," GAO said. "Similarly, about half of the contractor-managed programs do not address abuse and neglect or how to handle working dog retirement or euthanasia decisions in their contract-related documents."