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K9 Search Specialist Denise Corliss and her search dog Bretagne in Houston, Texas. Bretagne the last known living 9/11 search dog has died in a Houston suburb at age 16. Picture: D Fahleson/Houston Chronicle via AP
THE last known surviving hero dog involved in the search and rescue mission during the 9/11 terror attacks has been laid to rest.
Bretagne (pronounced Brittany), a 16-year-old Golden Retriever owned by Denise Corliss of Texas, was euthanised today after old age had slowed her down.
The hero dog was just two when she Ms Corliss were part of the Texas Task Force 1 sent to the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attack destroyed buildings on Sept. 11, 2001.
Bretagne the last surviving search and rescue dog from 9/11, is brought into the Fairfield Animal Hospital. Picture: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via APSource:AP
As Bretagne was taken to the vet, she was given a hero’s salute by firefighters.
A group of emotional firefighters and rescue workers from the Cy-Fair Fire Department in Harris County, Texas, lined the footpath as her body was carried out while covered in an American flag.
The dog was put to sleep at the nearby Fairfield Animal Hospital.
Denise Corliss, Bretagne’s owner, wipes tears as Bretagne's body was loaded into Texas Task Force 1 vehicle, as members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department salute. Picture: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via APSource:AP
Ms Corliss and Bretagne had joined hundreds of other search and rescue teams sent from around the world to find survivors at Ground Zero.
Together they worked 12 hours a day for two weeks without rest to recover what they could.
Bretagne soon became a therapy dog for those who wanted to pat her and share their stories with her after the 9/11 attacks.
“Dogs can be so comforting, so it makes sense to me now,†Corliss said, CNN reports.
“I just didn’t anticipate that, then.â€
Bretagne is walked by her handler Denise Corliss past a flank of members of the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, as she was brought into the Fairfield Animal Hospital. Picture: Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via APSource:AP
After 9/11, Bretagne and Ms Corliss travelled to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and other storms.
Bretagne left Texas Task Force 1 in 2009 to work as a local fire department search and rescue dog.
Bretagne later spent time teaching kids how to read, CNN reports.
She visited school classrooms, where children, who “may be intimidated or uncomfortable reading out loud to their classmates, have an opportunity to develop reading skills by reading to her,†Ms Corliss said.
Bretagne was the last surviving search dog, that would have been 17 in August.