When the United States entered World War Two, it sought to rapidly increase its number of K9 soldier...

1. The Secret Dog Army of Cat Island
When the United States entered World War Two, it sought to rapidly increase its number of K9

2. soldiers. In August 1942 the Quartermaster Remount Center at Front Royal, VA was established to
intake new donated dogs accepted from the civilian population for testing and training to become
war dogs. The US Army, Marines and Coast Guard used dogs for both sentry and pack use and later
in scout and mine detection. One dark program involved a much more tactical use of these dogs in
all-out war. It was thought that a unit of attack dogs could be formed to be dropped on occupied
beaches in the atolls of the pacific that would be trained to devour Japanese defenders based on
their smell. Cat Island in the Barrier Islands of the Mississippi Gulf Coast was chosen for this secret
experimental program. It was the only dog facility that was directly under the Army Ground Forces
command and not the Quartermaster Corps
Cat Island War Dog Reception and Training Center
The Cat Island War Center was begun in November 1942. It was chosen as it was semi-tropical (high
humidity and temperatures of up to 100 degrees F in the summer) and virtually uninhabited. More
sinisterly units of Japanese-American soldiers, the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Combat
Team were training at nearby Camp Shelby, just 75 miles from Cat Island. Some 25 Japanese-
American (Nisei) enlisted volunteers were selected from 3rd platoon B/100 and sent to the island to
be used as human 'bait' for the war dogs to find. A Swiss refugee William A Prestre was the civilian
instructor at the island who maintained that he could produce an army of war dogs who would kill
Japanese on sight and on their own without handlers instructing them.
Bizarre War Dog Training Program
Mr. Prestre claimed that he could produce up to 30,000 dogs to form an assault team to take
Japanese held islands by storm. He asserted in consultation meetings in June 1942 that he could
make Greyhounds streak across the beaches first and go for machinegun crews followed my large
pack of Great Dane and Wolfhound foot soldiers who would mop up the infantrymen. For three
months Prestre had Nisei soldiers dressed in Japanese Army costumes perform unusual tasks such
as strike training dogs until they bled and others in an effort to make the dogs vicious attack
animals. The trainers would give the command to, "kill" and loose the large breed dogs on padded
Nisei.
The program was bound for failure as the dogs could not discern between the Nisei soldiers and the
other US troopsWhen large packs of dogs were turned loose to attack and 'kill' on command they
quickly lost interest and milled around. On February 2, 1943 after two disappointing exhibitions in
front of the brass, Prestre was shown to the door and his involvement with the military terminated.
The Final days of the Cat Island War Dog Program
Military trainers eventually produced 400 dogs from the Cat Island facility after Mr Prestre was
relieved and more standard training methods put in place to turn out traditional scout and sentry
dogs. Interestingly the 828th Signal Pigeon Replacement Company came to the island and worked
on a program for scout dogs to carry signal pigeons on special vests. Even this activity ended and on
July 15, 1944 the facility, under the command if Lt Col AR Nichols, had closed and its remaining
dogs and trainers distributed to other sites.
Sources
Bearss, Edwin C Historic Resource Study Gulf Islands National Seashore (648 pages) National Park
Service July 1984

3. Cat Island files from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. retrieved from PBS.org 2/27/2010
"Greenwood Island continues to fascinate, give up its story" The Mississippi Press - Jul 27, 2008
Groom, Winston 1942: The Year That Tried Men's Souls, (Google Books) Grove Press, 2006
History Detectives; Season 7, Episode 1 Segment "War Dog Letter" PBS home Video June 2009
"In Mississippi, Islands chemicals no danger" Sun Herald May 16 1996
Lemish Michale G War Dogs: A History of Loyalty and Heroism, Brasseys 1999
Secret Mission: Dog Training Transcript Oral History of Ray Nosaka 3rd Platoon, Baker Co, 100th
Inft Battalion The Hawaii Nisei Story University of Hawaii.
Warner Denis "When Both Sides Stood Ready for Bacterial Warfare" New York Times February 9,
1995
Whitby, Simon M. Biological Warfare against Crops, (Google Books), Macmillan, 2002
Wiggins' Melanie Torpedoes in the Gulf: Galveston and the U-Boats, 1942-1943
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