Seals' secret weapons included man's best friend

We won't take a position on whether cats or dogs make better pets -- we know a lot of people who have both -- but dog lovers are enjoying news that their favorite species played a part in one of the biggest stories in years.

Seal Team 6, the elite-est of the elite Navy Seals force, took a dog along with them when they raided that compound in Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden.

While the dog's identity will probably always be kept as secret as the names of the other 79 Seals along on the raid, sources say it was probably a German shepherd or similar-looking Belgian Malinois.

Yes, the Seals are highly trained, disciplined and motivated, but they don't have the nose of the most lowly canine.

Authorities aren't saying exactly what role the dog played, but he was lowered into the compound from a helicopter while strapped to a human handler, and probably was brought along to look for hidden explosives or to search for bin Laden if there was a secret hiding place.

Dogs and the military are nothing new, of course.

We wept with news that "Target," a dog that saved American soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, was mistakenly euthanized after being brought to the United States.

The Pentagon reportedly has about 2,700 dogs, mostly European breeds, and the British use a lot of spaniel breeds to sniff out roadside bombs and booby traps

But those are only their official duties, ignoring the way having a dog around can boost morale of soldiers under stress.

We don't have any terrorists hiding around the house, but most of us could use a boost in morale from time to time.

Or at least the fun of pointing out to our feline-favoring friends that the Seals didn't jump into that compound carrying a cat.