The 9/11 Dogs: The heroes who searched for survivors at Ground Zero. Isabel George
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Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.
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First published by HarperTrueFriend 2014
FIRST EDITION
Text © Isabel George 2014
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be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780008105099
Ebook Edition © September 2014 ISBN: 9780007584369
Version: 2014-12-17
‘A dog comes into its own when the chances of survival are against it.’
New York firefighter
Contents
Chapter 2: Final Expression of Unconditional Love
Chapter 3: Salty, My Friend and My Hero
Chapter 4: Comfort for the Dying
Chapter 6: The Search for Life
Chapter 7: ‘Duty. Honour. Country’
Chapter 8: Healing for the Heroes
Chapter 9: Brave Dogs Will Not Rest
Chapter 10: Carrying a Nation’s Hope
Chapter 12: Remembering the Loved and the Lost
Coming soon from Isabel George …
Lower Manhattan, New York, March 2002. I stood on the waterfront just a stone’s throw from Ground Zero. Inadequately dressed for the bite of a New York winter, I clenched the short stack of press packs I had been carrying for the past two hours closer to my chest. That morning, the CNN weather reporter announced that this would be the coldest day of the year so far, yet I had still managed to leave my hotel room without gloves and a scarf. I quickly discovered that a bundle of slim paper folders and my thin English wool coat were no match for a minus-twenty wind chill.
Trying hard not to visibly shudder, I looked into the crowd ahead for a distraction. There must have been around 300 people gathered to watch this unique medal ceremony. Television crews and photographers were taking up their positions by the stage, where the soon-to-be-honoured guests included City of New York police and fire officers, alongside search-and-rescue teams and their counterparts from all over the United States. As they mingled with the dark-suited civilians, including representatives from the British Embassy and the Mayor’s office, the gold braid on their dress uniforms glistened in the flashes of winter sun. And at their feet, the canine heroes of the hour obediently sat, wondering what all the fuss was about.
German Shepherds, Labradors and spaniels accounted for the majority of the four-legged guests. Some of the dogs were in their dress uniform too, with coats bearing the emblem of the organisation they were representing. For two Golden Labradors – Salty and Roselle – six months earlier the walk into Lower Manhattan would have been a daily part of their routine. These two guide dogs knew this place well, as their masters had worked in the World Trade Center and the dogs had accompanied them into the city every day. If they had any memory of the last time they were in this part of town it would have been a traumatic