Injured Handler, Military Dog Recovering After IED Explosion

A photo of an injured military dog recuperating with a purple heart on his collar at a hospital in Washington, D.C. has gone viral.

The photo, posted last week by the 89th Military Police Brigade, shows the dog, Rocky, recovering at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. According to the post, Rocky and his handler, Specialist Andrew Brown, were injured by an IED explosion last week while serving in Afghanistan. Both are recuperating in the same room.

"Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they recover during the holiday season," the post reads.

The photo has more than 100,000 likes and 130,000 shares.

According to the American Kennel Club, the first dog to receive the Purple Heart was a mixed-breed canine named Chips in 1942. Time Magazine reported that Chips was honored for "singlehandedly wiping out a machine-gun nest in Italy." However, the magazine reported that following protests, the military ruled that no more dogs would receive the Purple Heart.

In a subsequent post, the 89th Military Police Brigade reported that both Brown and Rocky are "doing well."