Twenty years ago we all watched in disbelief as terrorists flew commercial planes first into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center. Amid the destruction, rescue workers were on the scene within just hours using some of the best detection equipment available. No high-tech electronics - they brought the original models for search and rescue – they brought the dogs, with their ultra-sensitive noses, highly trained to sniff out survivors, and those who lost their lives. In fact, the last survivor found in the rubble, twenty-seven hours after the collapse, was a Port Authority worker, sniffed out by a dog.
Over the days, weeks and months, more than three hundred dogs worked “the pile” (as it was called). The dogs worked twelve-hour shifts; veterinarians onsite treated the animals’ paws, tended their scratches and cuts, and cleaned their eyes and noses often because of the smoke and dust.
Therapy dogs also were onsite, providing comfort to those who worked the pile. Some who found it difficult to talk to counselors would hold and pet the dogs; they became a ray of sunshine amid all the death and destruction.
There were at least two guide dogs whose owners worked in the World Trade Center. Both men made it out alive – one from the 71st floor and the other, Michael Hingson, from the 78th floor. His dog Roselle was afraid of thunder, but that day she didn’t hesitate. Ignoring the commotion, the noise, the yelling, the crush of people, she guided her owner to the stairwell, down almost fifteen hundred steps, and out of the building as it collapsed behind them. For her heroism and dedication, she was named the winner of the first American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards.
Of the over 300 search and rescue dogs, and comfort dogs, that worked that awful pile twenty years ago, it may surprise you to know that many of them came from animal shelters. So if you need a hero, maybe all you need to do is adopt one, when you’re speaking of pets.
TEASER: Prior to September 11,2001, most people knew that dogs had a pretty good sense of smell, and could even locate a person lost in the woods – but in general, people had no concept of the contribution that the canine’s abilities could make in such a large scale disaster. And no one ever thought a guide dog could ignore life-threatening circumstances to lead its owner through unimaginable chaos, down almost eighty flights of stairs in near darkness and outside to safety – truly a hero dog!
