USA Tragedy

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USA Moggy

Stories

Two-legged Rescuers Come To Aid Of Stranded Animals

Hero Dog Dorado Saves Blind Owner

Gritty Kitty Found Alive (Ground Zero WTC)

Hope, Freedom, Amber & Flag (Ground Zero WTC)

Someone To Watch Over Angel

It's A Cat-astrophe! (Ground Zero WTC)

Feline Rescue - The Program to help military men and women have their cats to come home to even if they don't have friends or family that can take their pets when they are called for active duty. Operation Noble Foster is now officially in action!

The Unsung Heroes

"If these dogs only knew what a difference they make. Certainly, there's nothing that can replace precision of a dog's nose, and absolutely nothing that can replace a dog's heart." - Bob Sessions, rescue worker, Federal Emergency Management Agency, New York, USA.

Erick & Porkchop

One-year-old "Porkchop" gets some kind reassurance from partner Erick Robertson of Oakhurst, California. Search and Rescue (SAR) dogs, especially those trained to find living people, feel increased stress and depression as time passes with no survivors found.

New York receives gifts of dog food and booties.

September/October 2001

Tons of dog food are being sent to New York to help pets affected by the World Trade Centre attacks.

The donations come from across the US and include dog booties to help animals involved in the rescue operation.

Most of the boots, however, weren't needed by search-and-rescue dogs at the World Trade Centre site. At least 100 tons of surplus dog food remain in storage, for hard-up pet owners.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars has been donated earmarked for pets affected by the terror attacks.

The American Kennel Club and the Ralston Purina Co. is funding a Ł68,000, three-year study to assess the physical and psychological problems suffered by search dogs at the attack site.

University of Pennsylvania veterinarian Cynthia Otto, who will lead the study, said the dogs may have been affected by smoke and dust inhalation because they worked without the surgical masks worn by human search crews.

She says some dogs are demoralised by the grim magnitude of the search.

She says: "Normally, these dogs work a little, then rest a little. Here, they were working 12-hour shifts - their training is not geared to this kind of duration and intensity."

Many of the dogs had been trained to find survivors, rather than cadavers, and are accustomed to a playful reward when they succeed.

Ms Otto said: "There wasn't a lot of playing at the scene. That was hard on them."

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