Trakr, The 9/11 Rescue Dog Who Was Later Cloned
PRWebTrakr and James Symington at Ground Zero in September 2001.
Trakr was a German Shepherd who pulled the last survivor of the 9/11 attacks out of the rubble on Sept. 12, 2001. To many, it was obvious that Trakr was a special dog — and it was clearest to his owner and handler, James Symington, a retired Canadian police officer. TIME seemed to agree, as they once named Trakr one of history’s most heroic animals.
Symington served with the Halifax Regional Police for 13 years, and he even helped develop the department’s K-9 unit. It was there that he first met Trakr, who joined the unit from the Czech Republic in 1995 when he was 14 months old. Trakr served the police department for six years, sniffing out more than $1 million in contraband and aiding in hundreds of arrests.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Symington and Trakr — who had been retired from the Halifax K-9 unit four months earlier — drove overnight from Canada to Manhattan to help with search and rescue efforts. On the morning of Sept. 12, Trakr was digging through the rubble when he got a “live hit” — and firefighters pulled Genelle Guzman, the last survivor to be found, from the debris.
Symington was so impressed by Trakr’s personality and skill that he later had the German Shepherd cloned. Per a 2009 report from ABC News, Trakr’s DNA was submitted to BioArts International, a company that was seeking the “most clone-worthy dog.” CEO Lou Hawthorne told the news outlet, “Trakr was just so far beyond any of them. He was a clear winner.”
The clones — Trustt, Solace, Valor, Prodigy, and Deja Vu — reportedly showed similar personality traits to Trakr from the beginning. Symington said these qualities included high intelligence and “an extreme amount of confidence.”
Trakr died in 2009 after 14 years by Symington’s side, but his young clones allowed the loyal 9/11 rescue dog to live on.
