On September 11, 2001, our nation was brought to its knees and the whole world stunned by the act of terrorism perpetrated against the United States. The numbers are mindboggling. In New York City 2,753 lives were lost. Firefighters and police officers responding to the World Trade Center attack numbered close to 400. In our nation’s capital almost 200 lives were lost when the Pentagon was hit. And in a field in Pennsylvania 40 passengers and crew members died bravely as their plane went down in a heroic effort to stop it from hitting a then unknown but most certainly populated and strategic location.
For 99 days the fires burned in New York City and firefighters from all over our country responded and went to New York. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Volunteer Policemen and EMTs flooded the city to help in any way they could. * “Nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.” Though they were there primarily to search for survivors they also gave comfort and hope to those that were working tirelessly to clear debris with a desperate desire to find anyone alive.
As it was with most of the world, I spent the days following that dark day glued to my television, hoping for some light in the darkness. A statement from one of the newscasters struck me. They mentioned that the search dogs who were brought in were showing signs of depression, since they were unable to complete their mission. You see, search dogs are trained to find living people in the piles of rubble. We remember all too well that very few people were found.
Instead, the incredible dogs found another mission. They decided to comfort the searchers. Coaxed or not, these amazing and resilient dogs thought nothing of their own sadness, and started to sit patiently with the sobbing emergency workers. We can’t help but think about how much darker New York City would have been during the aftermath without these magnificent animals.
Not many of the dogs are left. Some of them sadly succumbed to illness much earlier than expected. There are precious few left. By 2011, there were only 12 search dogs.
We honor the fallen of 9/11/01.
We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of these victims.
Our gratitude for the volunteers that responded, human and canine alike, was then and shall always be boundless.
Some books have highlighted these forgotten heroes. And here’s one that seems to be worth mentioning.
To learn more about search dogs in general, check out this site: http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/
On today’s anniversary, we honor the forgotten heroes; the search dogs and their handlers who searched with them. Maybe after reading this, you’ll give your furry companion a little extra love in honor of these amazing creatures.
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