Dogs looked for survivors, recovered remains, and comforted the crews. How many dogs worked at Ground Zero after 9/11?
Drag to get close · ▲▼ to fine-tune
300
About 300 dogs worked Ground Zero, trained to find survivors, to recover remains, or to comfort the workers. They worked 12-hour shifts across the smoldering pile. When days turned into weeks without finding anyone alive, the search dogs became visibly depressed, prompting handlers to stage mock rescues so their dogs could experience a successful find.
A search-and-rescue dog found the last living person pulled from Ground Zero, 27 hours after the towers came down. After that, every find was a recovery, which is why the mock rescues mattered so much to the dogs still working the pile.
About 300 dogs worked at Ground Zero in 12-hour shifts. Handlers staged fake rescues so the dogs would not lose heart.
Source: National September 11 Memorial & Museum · checked May 2022