9/11 Search & Rescue Dog Passes Away
PetFinder.my 
Jun 8, 2016 
NGOs, PetFinder.my 
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Mourning Bretagne, a Search Dog and Symbol of 9/11 Heroism
Bretagne, a golden retriever believed to be the last surviving search-and-rescue dog to brave the rubble of the World Trade Center site, looking for survivors of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, died at a veterinarian’s office in Cypress, Tex., on Monday. She was 16 years old.
Her death was confirmed by the rescue team Texas Task Force 1 and the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department in Harris County, whose officers lined the sidewalk outside the veterinarian’s office on Monday to bid farewell to the dog, who was euthanized.
On Monday, her owner, Denise Corliss, told the “Today” show that Bretagne (pronounced Brittany) had been experiencing kidney failure and had not eaten for three days.
“She was really anxious last night, and she just wanted to be with me,” Ms. Corliss said. “So I laid down with her, right next to her. When she could feel me, she could settle down and go to sleep. I slept with her like that all night.”
Bretagne was mourned on social media by public figures like Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, and by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the New York Police Department’s Special Operations Division.
For 10 days after the terrorist attacks in Lower Manhattan, Bretagne, then 2, worked 12-hour shifts as she searched for survivors and offered comfort to emergency responders, sleeping outdoors with Ms. Corliss. They had traveled to the city with Texas Task Force 1 to assist in rescue efforts, but were unable to find any survivors, just remains.
“After 9/11, everybody — all of us — felt such sadness,” Ms. Corliss told “Today” in 2014. “We all wanted to help. I just felt so honored that we were able to respond.”
The dog and her owner had twice returned to New York in recent years, where Bretagne was greeted with a hero’s welcome. Bretagne continued to serve with the Texas Task Force 1 and Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, assisting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, before retiring at age 9 from search activities.
The golden retriever remained active, however, in community events, demonstrating search techniques. In recent years, she visited an elementary school once a week to help first graders practice their reading, attentively lending a floppy ear to grateful students.
David Padovan, a Fire Department spokesman, said Bretagne had slowed considerably in recent years, but remained loved in the firehouse and the community.
“It’s just like meeting a movie star,” he said. “She walks into the room and everyone immediately gravitates to her. Everyone wants a picture with her. If she could sign autographs they’d ask for those as well. By working with children in her old age, she “served up until the very last moments she could.”
May sweet Bretagne rest in peace, having worked tirelessly and selflessly for over a decade to guide and inspire us humans.
One question remains to be asked — do we have the right to decide on the life and death of another being, even if it is suffering? If it is legal, would we apply the same principles to ourselves and our family members?
Sources: http://nyti.ms/1X97LTu, http://on.today.com/1VJyeG8
Source: https://www.facebook.com/PetFinder.my/videos/112041048133790..
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