Bear was the first dog on the scene with his partner Captain Scott Shields.
They came from the Marine Safety Services.
update: Bear died of cancer on September 26th 2002 at the age of 12.
an email I received from Captain Shields
update: August 18th 2006 - I have recently found out (not in the nicest way) that Scott Shields' email to me was untrue in content & that he is a scam artist. Bear did not find any living people.

A German shepherd named Miranda trained as a police dog for years but she only had a few months of experience when she arrived at Ground Zero. When she cut her chest and injured her leg on the fifth day of searching, Miranda’s handler, police sergeant Dale Warke, decided to bring her home.


Miranda developed muscle control problems, to the point that she eventually became immobile. She was euthanized on August 2nd 2002 at age 14. She found dozens of bodies over five days of work, including a fire chief's, but no survivors.  This contributed to her decline in health. "She was always high-spirited," Dale said. "After this, it was like the energy was sapped out of her. She's trained to find live people."


Dale would like to spread Miranda's ashes at the site. (unfortunately I have no pictures of Miranda)

Sergeant Chris Christensen was watching the events of September 11 on television. "I thought, 'I have a search and rescue dog; I have to do something,". So Chris and his dog Servus left Southwestern Illinois & headed for New York City.

While searching the top of the pile, Servus slid down 20 feet into concrete dust the morning they arrived. He couldn’t breath after inhaling the debris. Chris lifted his 70-lb. partner onto his shoulders, and ran down the treacherous hill calling for help.

Upon reaching the bottom of the pile he was instantly surrounded by over a dozen firefighters, police officers and a nurse who administered I/V fluids right there on the sidewalk. Servus was rushed to an animal hospital to be resuscitated. He was released after a few hours observation but could not continue searching due to the damage the debris caused to his nostrils.

update: September 2002 – Servus has retired from police work. At age 11, he is still active but has trouble breathing after any physical exertion.

Durac & his handler, Officer D. McFadden outside
the New York Stock Exchange.

Inside the Stock Exchange,
Dusty from Sacramento California gets to ring the opening bell.

"Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends"

-Alexander Pope

main dog page WTC dogs page 1   WTC dogs page 3 Sirius, a fallen K-9 Officer

This page is dedicated to all search & rescue dogs for the selfless acts that they perform.