REMEMBERING
the HERO DOGS of 9/11
A Legacy Started at Ground Zero.
Twenty-three years ago, thousands of emergency rescue workers rushed to the World Trade Center site in New York City to assist in the aftermath of the devastating attacks of September 11th. These were our nation’s fire, police, and medical professionals risking their health and safety to recover who they could from the rubble. Including in the efforts were over 300 working dogs trained and skilled in search and rescue, bomb detection, and therapy.
In the days that followed, these brave canines and their handlers endured grueling hours, burns, heat exhaustion, and injury to successfully recover 20 survivors, provide essential comfort to workers, and serves as sources of hope for a country in need. They became heroes. Legends. We're proud to officially honor them through September’s Patch of the Month.
Trakr had the distinction of being born in the Czech Republic, serving the Halifax Regional Police in Canada, and recovering the last of the 20 survivors on the morning of Sept 12th. His journey was one for the ages, as Trakr and Canadian Police Officer James Symington drove 15 hours together from Prospect Bay, Nova Scotia to Manhattan without department permission to participate in the recovery efforts.
Even after many first responders were sent home, the two stayed on the scene attempting to recover more survivors until Trakr was treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion after collapsing on September 14th. Upon his return to Canada, Trakr continued his work with the K-9 unit, recovering over $1 million in contraband, locating missing individuals, and assisting in the arrests of thousands of criminals throughout a historic law enforcement career.
Despite training in search and rescue exercises since she was just 8 weeks old, Ground Zero represented Bretagne’s (pronounced Brittany) first major assignment.
Working 12 hours a day for 10 days straight, she had the distinction of being one of the few dogs to operate off-leash while tasked with uncovering the departed from tight spaces. She would go on to assist in the rescue efforts after Hurricanes Rita, Ivan, and Katrina, before being the last known hero dog of 9/11 to pass away.
Something of a rescue himself, Jake was found seriously injured and abandoned in the streets before getting a second life as a SAR Dog upon his recovery. Serving Utah Task Force 1, a federal search and rescue team trained to respond within 24 hours in the event of hurricanes, earthquakes, wilderness, water rescue, terrorist attacks, or avalanches.
Deployed to Ground Zero, Jake spent 17 difficult days searching the rubble for the remains of those lost. Serving as a morale booster, he was later treated by the city of New York to a steak dinner from an upscale restaurant for his efforts. Jake would later assist search and rescue teams during Hurricane Rita and Katrina, before settling into a new career as a therapy dog.
Even if you don’t the name, you’re probably familiar with the iconic 9/11 photo of Riley being transported by ropeway high above the rubble. Equal parts sobering and staggering, the expression on Riley’s face was that few could forget.
Never formally trained as a cadaver dog, he uncovered the bodies of many firefighters in his determination to locate survivors. After becoming visibly depressed, he was reassigned as a comfort dog to provide stress relief to the firefighters and officers of Ground Zero.
The first canine responder to reach Ground Zero, Apollo and his handler arrived just 15 minutes after the collapse of the South Tower. At that point, Apollo had already solidified himself as one of the city’s top working dogs as a member of the first K-9 Urban Search and Rescue team. Despite nearly perishing after being hit by falling debris and fire, Apollo survived to serve 18-hour days for weeks in a relentless search for survivors, before exhaustion forced him to stop.