Bretagne, the last 9/11 Ground Zero search dog, has died at the age of 16. A spokesperson for the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department said, “Some may say that the most a dog could be is a pet, however, to the over 400 members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, Bretagne was a civil servant, a hero and is family”.
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About two dozen members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department and members of Texas Task Force 1 formed a traditional wall of honor, saluting the golden retriever as she entered Fairfield Animal Hospital in Cypress.
Bretagne visited the site of the NY attacks when she was 15.
Texas Task Force 1 wrote on its Facebook page, “The valiant effort and dedication to finding a victim trapped in a destroyed building that Bretagne showed us on a regular basis”.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bretagne, a two-year-old golden retriever, was among the dogs rushed to NY from across the country to help in the rescue and recovery. The pair searched for ten days to locate human remains.
Draped in the national flag and laid to rest with a salute befitting a hero, America’s last surviving 9/11 rescue dog bid farewell to the world. Once Corliss watched Bretagne risk her own safety when the dog found herself standing on the end of a dangling staircase. Most recently, Bretagne would spend her time visiting elementary school students. Old age had slowed her down, and it was time to put her to sleep.
The Morning News reported that Bretagne also responded to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, among other disasters.
“It’s a hard day for the entire fire department”, said David Padovan with Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. “Then we started focusing on ways to keep her mentally active”, Corliss said. Some were drug dogs, some were bomb dogs, all were very playful and friendly while off duty, and all business while on (I always feel safer flying in and out of a small military facility that’s using bomb dogs than I do going through the TSA screenings).
“Each week, she would visit a first grade classroom and listen to young readers, providing a non-judgmental ear, and soft paw”, notes the department. “She served her country”.
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“When our task force arrived in Ground Zero, I just couldn’t believe the magnitude of it”. “That kind of pushy behavior helped her be the persistent don’t-give-up-style of working dog that I needed later”, said Corliss.
