From Riley the golden retriever to Apollo the German Shepherd, these canine companions remained calm and performed their duties in the face of chaos following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
There were many heroes at Ground Zero in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but not all of them walked on two legs. Many 9/11 rescue dogs played a major role in the search efforts that took place in the days after the tragedy, particularly when it came to finding survivors who were lost in the rubble. In fact, the last living person rescued from the World Trade Center — 27 hours after the Twin Towers collapsed — was found by one of these dogs.
Naturally, the search and rescue effort took a massive mental toll on everyone involved, including the dogs. Given that many of these canines were trained specifically to find survivors in the event of a disaster, they were often discouraged when, after hours of searching, they turned up nothing. To keep morale high, the handlers had to stage “mock finds” to help the pups feel successful.
The rubble also took a physical toll on the dogs. They were covered in debris, with their paw pads, eyes, and noses requiring constant cleaning. To ensure the creatures were properly taken care of, veterinarians were stationed at the site to constantly monitor them.
Although they often get less credit than their human counterparts, there is no doubt that these 9/11 rescue dogs are just as deserving of the title “hero.”
Bretagne, The Two-Year-Old Golden Retriever Whose First Assignment Was 9/11
Texas Task Force 1Bretagne not only searched for survivors following 9/11 — she also comforted emergency workers at Ground Zero.
Bretagne (pronounced like Brittany) was only two years old when she arrived at Ground Zero. In fact, it was her “first mission.” Her trainer, Denise Corliss, was an electrical engineer at the time, but she found herself fascinated by the work carried out by disaster search dogs. Eventually, she learned that civilian volunteers, if they trained their dogs well enough, could be called in to support federal emergency responders.
“I was so excited about doing this, but I didn’t have the appreciation of how life-changing it would be,” Corliss said in a 2014 interview with Today. “It took 20 to 30 hours a week easily to stay on top of training. This is what I did when I wasn’t at work.”
But that training ultimately paid off, because Corliss and Bretagne qualified for Texas Task Force 1 in 2000. One year later, they would put all their hard work to the test when they were called to New York City to help in the search and rescue efforts at Ground Zero. There, they put in 12-hour shifts for two weeks straight.
Bretagne had an uncanny ability to recognize when people were feeling down, and she always went out of her way to approach first responders who looked despondent. Once, she noticed a firefighter who wore a grim expression and broke away from Corliss to attend to him.
“I was surprised that she wasn’t listening to me, but she really wasn’t — it was like she was flipping me the paw,” Corliss said. “She went right to that firefighter and laid down next to him and put her head on his lap.”
By the time of the 2014 interview, Bretagne was 15 years old and one of the last surviving rescue dogs of 9/11. She was given a hero’s goodbye in June 2016, with members of the Cy-Fair Fire Department and Texas Task Force 1 saluting her as she entered the vet clinic for the final time.
