Roles of dogs
Dogs played an important military role for most European armies during World War I, serving in a variety of tasks. Dogs hauled machine gun and supply carts. They also served as messengers, often delivering their missives under a hail of fire. Though it is difficult to fully account for their numbers, according to one French source “more than two thousand dogs” were in service on the Western Front at one time during the war, and the Imperial War Museums believes over 16 million total animals were in service during the course World War I.