When you think of emergency responders, search and rescue dogs aren’t necessarily what come to mind first — displaying duty, obedience and sacrifice when our way of life was attacked through terror 25 years ago. On Sept. 11, 2001, and the weeks that followed, canines played a vital role, finding those still alive and those lost beneath the rubble. “Every time we find someone, we just hope they’re alive,” said one Canadian police officer who travelled to New York to help in the search with his German shepherd, Ranger. “Unfortunately, my dog has found 14 dead, but we still have hope,” the officer said. Meaford, Ont., park dedicated to the bond between animal and human Found in a small park in Meaford, Ont., is the burial ground of Beautiful Joe, the dog that inspired Margaret Marshall Saunders to write the famous best-selling novel. Based on true events, Beautiful Joe tells the story of a dog that is rescued from the hands of a cruel master who removes his ears and tail in a fit of anger. The Morris family comes to his aid and carefully nurses the dog back to health, giving him the name, Beautiful Joe. Originally published in 1894, it is told from the perspective of Joe himself, who quickly finds that he is in the company of many other animals that the Morris family have saved from harm. They firmly believe that every creature has the right to a full and happy life. Despite his horrible, early experiences, he falls in love with his adopted family and becomes a loyal and trustworthy companion. The Ground Zero canines that found both the dead and the living are immortalized in the rural Ontario park named “Beautiful Joe” and remembered, along with their handlers, for their sacrifice and service. “We have the Twin Towers, the base is the shape of the Pentagon,” said Sharon Mansion, the vice chair of the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society. “The reason we put this monument here within Beautiful Joe Park, is it celebrates the animal-human bond and we felt it was really important we recognize the efforts of the search and rescue dogs that had gone to Ground Zero.” One search and rescue dog killed on 9/11 One canine was already inside the Trade Centre when the building collapsed. “Sirius is said to be the only working dog who was killed when the towers fell,” said Mansion. The fallen working dog and his handler was honoured by the Port Authority Police Department years later. “Today we honour a 9/11 first responder who died in the line of duty. Sirius PAPD canine #17, was on patrol on the morning of 9/11 at the World Trade Centre, with his partner, PAPD officer David Lim, when the attacks began,” said a member of the PAPD. David Lim added, “I’m very emotional right now, it’s been a long time coming.” Plaque honouring fallen canine in Meaford, Ont. In 2002, PAPD Officer David Lim was on hand to unveil the plaque that memorialized his partner and friend in Beautiful Joe Park in Meaford, Ont., during the ceremony — an unanticipated honour. “When they came unexpectedly during the presentation, [they presented] a cross that’s been cut from the World Trade Centre,” said Mansion. Sirius, along with 36 Port Authority Police Department officers were killed in the line of duty that day, the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association Inc. stated it is the greatest, single loss of officers in the history of American law enforcement. Hundreds of canines helped search through the rubble “Three hundred dogs went that day or during Ground Zero,” said Mansion. That includes a Golden Retriever named Bretagne, the last of the 9/11 search dogs to die after her dignified transfer in 2016. “She served her country by deploying to the World Trade Centre, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and once she retired, she served her community going once a week to meet with first graders,” said a member of the Texas Task Force. The Beautiful Joe Historical Society added a plaque dedicated to Bretagne on Sept. 11, 2016. “Bretagne was a Golden Retriever that went to Ground Zero,” said Mansion. “She’d only had eight weeks training when she was sent and her job was to help with the search and rescue efforts with her trainer, Denise, and the Texas Task Force.” Twenty-five years since the horrific day, the small town park — a lasting monument to the bravery and sacrifice of canine rescue dogs — honours both the lost and those that help find.
