The Staged Rescues That Kept 9/11 Search Dogs Motivated

More than 300 dogs searched the ruins of New York’s World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Trained to detect the scent of living people trapped beneath rubble, they worked for hours across the wreckage at Ground Zero.

One of the search dogs helped find the last person rescued alive from Ground Zero, about 27 hours after the towers collapsed. But as the days passed without further survivors, some dogs began to lose motivation. Their handlers responded with an unusual method: staged rescues.

During these exercises, known as “mock finds,” a person hid among the debris and the dog was sent to locate them. The successful search gave the animal the result it had been trained to expect and helped preserve its willingness to keep working.

The dogs sometimes spent as long as 12 hours on piles of concrete, metal and other debris, while fires had not yet been fully extinguished. Dust and grime exposed them to difficult conditions, so veterinarians cleaned their paws, eyes and noses at the site. Cynthia Otto of the University of Pennsylvania and veterinary toxicology specialist Lisa Murphy were among those caring for the animals.

Not every dog brought to Ground Zero searched for victims. Therapy dogs also accompanied firefighters and rescuers working long hours, offering them brief comfort through contact with the animals.