Landmine Dog Yankee Returns To Capitol Hill To Lend Support To Resolution Banning Landmines In Yemen

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weeks after making a big splash on Capitol Hill by bringing awareness to landmine use in Yemen, Marshall Legacy Institute's Canine Ambassador, Mine Detection Dog Yankee, is returning to Washington to meet with members of Congress, to lend support to the Hurd-Cotton Resolutions condemning landmine use in Yemen, while also highlighting the landmine crisis globally.

Landmine use in war torn countries continues to be one of the worst forms of humanitarian disasters. The United Nations states that nearly 1,000 people are killed or injured each month by landmines, over half of these casualties being civilians and children. The concurrent resolutions from Representative Will Hurd in the House and Senator Tom Cotton in the Senate condemn the reckless deployment of landmines in Yemen.

One of those lending their support to this resolution and the global banning of landmines, is landmine survivor Dr. Ken Rutherford, Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery and Professor of Political Science at James Madison University. For more than 23 years JMU has been recognized as a global leader in international efforts to combat the effects of landmines and explosive remnants of war, including rehabilitating post-conflict societies. Dr. Rutherford said, "This resolution highlights that Yemen will be a safer place to walk without landmines and also draws attention to the global problem issue. Landmines are costing too many lives and putting a tremendous burden on survivors who require support for their social and economic reintegration."

Yankee is a decorated landmine-sniffing hero – she served 6 years in Sri Lanka, where she sniffed out landmines across nearly 40 miles of heavily mine-infested land in the war-affected nation, saving and improving countless lives. Yankee worked alongside the Sri Lankan Army's Humanitarian Demining Unit. Yankee is one of 250 lifesaving Mine Detection Dogs that the Marshall Legacy Institute has donated to mine clearance organizations in a dozen of the most severely mine-affected countries around the world, helping to fulfill MLI's mission to help war-torn countries recover from conflict and regain stability.

MDD Yankee's presence on Capitol Hill will also highlight the fact the United States is the world's single largest financial supporter of efforts to clear explosive remnants of war. Since 1993, the United States has contributed more than $3.4 billion to more than 100 countries around the world to reduce the harmful worldwide effects of landmines and other indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war.

When not busy visiting Members of Congress and walking the power hallways of Washington DC, Yankee helps MLI spread awareness of the landmine problem by traveling throughout the U.S. and engaging youth, teachers, and other caring global citizens in this important humanitarian issue to make a better and safer world for all people and animals.

To learn more about Yankee's Capitol Hill meetings please follow her on Twitter @YankeeMineDog

SOURCE Marshall Legacy Institute