Search and Rescue Dogs of 9/11

As we mark the 10^th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in US history, let’s take a moment to remember and commemorate the search and rescue dogs of 9/11 too. Nearly a thousand Search and Rescue dogs and their handlers spent days searching the site of the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon for any sign of life, and months going through rubble at the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, looking for human remains. 

Search and Rescue dogs are trained to detect sweat and other musky odors trapped people emit, and these canines can tell the difference between live and dead bodies. Their sense of smell is estimated to be about one million times more sensitive than a human’s and they can detect vibrations at 250 yards that we can barely register at 25 yards. 

The dogs came from FEMA’s Search and Rescue team, and from all across the US, Puerto Rico, Canada and even from France. After a week, there were no more survivors to be found, and the dogs turned to looking for body parts to help identify those who died in the tragedy. This is heartbreaking work for both handler and dog. To keep these brave dog’s spirits up, handlers would stage ‘mock rescues’, during which someone would deliberately hide, and the search and rescue dogs were able to make a successful ‘rescue’. Some dogs worked the debris for more than three months. 

Here is a letter from a Search and Rescue handler Paul Morgan, who, with his dog Cody, was able to search out several bodies in the rubble September 12^th.

This site has several pages and a year book of dogs and their handlers who worked the disaster sites.

And here is the story of a dog who rescued his blind owner from the North Tower of the World Trade Center before it collapsed.

The search and rescue dogs were given thorough veterinary care during the days and weeks after the attack. A group of rescue dogs studied against a control group showed the dogs who had spent time in the rubble did not suffer serious health problems, as their human counterparts would. One vet theorizes that the dogs longer noses helped filter out the toxic chemicals everyone at the sites of the disaster inhaled.

USA Today gives the details of a ceremony on September 11, 2011 at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ to honor the Search and Rescue teams who devoted so much time, effort and compassion to the recovery effort. The elderly heros of 911 will walk in a procession with current Search and Rescue teams, but, sadly, the event is by invitation only.

Search and Rescue handlers spent as much as $10,000 a year of their own money, not to mention missed work, in order to volunteer their efforts. Their recognition has been a long time coming.