A police dog and her handler weave through the debris where the WTC south tower once stood. Rescue dogs like this one are trained to detect traces of sweat and other musky odors exuded by the body during stress. They are also able to distinguish between the living and the dead.
U.S. President George W. Bush greets a Black Lab searcher dog after visiting the site of the World Trade Center attack in New York City.
Help is offered from as far away as Vancouver, BC. Vancouver Urban Rescue Team officer Jack Wadley puts Khan and the gang on standby as the U.S. accepts Canada's assistance. New York City's canine rescue teams have been working non-stop, full-day shifts since Tuesday.
Grim faces and sad tails show the frustration—and the unshaken resolve—of rescuers from the Maryland Task Force Rescue Team on lunch break. Handlers say that dogs trained to find survivors feel as if it's their fault for not being able to find anyone. No survivors have been located since last Wednesday when canine search teams helped locate five injured people.
"They will search endlessly for that scent until they are called off."
— Lori Mohr, National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
Kinsay" of the Texas Task Force One has an injured paw treated—while dishing out her own dose of fuzz-therapy to weary crews.
"Some couldn't take it anymore. Rescuers asked to play fetch with Thunder. But then they'd sneak off in a corner to just be with Thunder, or maybe to talk with him." — Bob Sessions, rescue worker, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Ohio Task Force One's Gary Flynn and his partner Tascha prepare for another shift.
The therapeutic value of dogs at the World Trade Center site has been widely recognized. CNN correspondent Kitty Pilgrim reports, "Not all dogs are soldiering through piles of rubble. One special unit was brought in to provide emotional support to rescue workers. They reach out to these dogs because it's OK to." An unidentified rescue worker adds, "These dogs have been trained to pick up on trauma and goes towards it. So they pursue people they perceive as being in a state of trauma ... We've been visiting a lot of firemen, police, and cleanup detail."
"Worf" located the bodies of two missing firefighters on the first day. Overwhelmed, he lay down and curled up on the spot. The dog began shedding profusely, quit eating and refused to play with other dogs. His partner Mike Owens made the decision to retire the 12-year-old German Shepherd from search-and-rescue duty permanently. They are now back at home in Monroe, Ohio, where the entire town takes turns petting and playing with Worf.
One-year-old "Porkchop" gets some kind reassurance from partner Erick Robertson of Oakhurst, California. SAR dogs—especially those trained to find living people—feel increased stress and depression as time passes with no survivors found.
NEW YORK CITY — Their sense of smell has been estimated to be at least one million times more refined than ours; they have as many as 220,000,000 "sniffer" cells, compared to a human's mere 5,000,000; they can detect sound vibrations at 250 yards that most humans can barely hear at 25; and most importantly, these marvelous workers are dedicated, determined and motivated beyond the limits of exhaustion like no human or machine could ever be.
