Reflections

Photo courtesy of Dogs in the News. Check out their website for more photos and stories of the search and rescue dog teams of 911

September 11, 2011 marks a solemn anniversary. It's been ten years since the largest terrorist attack in America's history occurred. I don't think any of us will forget where we were when we got the news, and saw the nearly unbelievable images flicker across television screens.

There have been ceremonies and documentaries shown in recent days of the things that happened. They make us relive poignant stories of courage, survival, and incomprehensible loss. It can sometimes be difficult to watch, but still our duty to remember, in the same way that the generation before us remembered Pearl Harbor.

So many demonstrated bravery beyond measure that day. And among those gallant heroes were the canine search and rescue teams who participated in a desperate hunt for survivors...returning to recover remains.

Finding One Another (FOA), an organization dedicated to paying tribute to the search and rescue canines of 9-11, has organized a Recognition Ceremony at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. The ceremony will begin at 12:45pm on Sunday, September 11. Over 1,000 canine working dog teams who served at the 9-11 sites will line the processional route. Also participating will be veterinarians and other personnel who treated medical emergencies for injured dogs who worked the disaster. For more information, visit the FOA website.

Today we will reflect on those lost. We will honor heroes. And even if only for a moment, we will stand united again.

We Remember

Rescue dog being lifted from the debris of the Twin Towers-photo by US Navy/Preston Keres

Eight years ago today, the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists. Many people lost their lives. As the news media replays those images, I can feel the same sense of horror and fear that I experienced then.

Critter Alley pays respect to the thousands who perished as well as to those who risked their own lives to save others that day.

In particular, I'd like to honor the rescue dogs of 9/11, who bravely performed tasks unlike any they'd experienced before.

Although their paws burned as they entered the smoldering debris to search for survivors, they went in. Though their lungs were damaged from breathing the toxic fumes of destruction, they went in. Despite the noise and confusion of utter chaos that must have seemed like the end of the world, they went in. The dogs and their handlers did the job they were trained to do. Because of them, lives were saved. And when it became apparent that that their job would be that of recovery rather than rescue, the teams worked on...and on.

Eight years later, most of these noble animals are gone. Some through age, some through injuries that could not be treated.

So today, please remember them, too.

And what they did.

For more information, read Dog Heroes of September 11th: A Tribute to America's Search and Rescue Dogs by Nona Kilgore Bauer.