Picture Gallery:
The World Trade Center's Heroic Rescue Dogs, Page 4

Saturday, October 6, 2001 - USA

NEW YORK CITY — Their sense of smell has been estimated to be at least one million times more refined than ours; they have as many as 220,000,000 "sniffer" cells, compared to a human's mere 5,000,000; they can detect sound vibrations at 250 yards that most humans can barely hear at 25; and they are dedicated, determined and motivated beyond the limits of exhaustion like no human or machine could ever be.

But when they're asleep, they're still just adorable, fuzzy dogs, aren't they?  We're reminded that these indefatigable multi-sensory trackers are just big puppies underneath it all—like the saying goes: "Cold nose, warm heart."

So let's now take a moment to admire the "World Trade Center's Sleepy Rescue Dogs" on a few of the rare occasions that we can catch them at rest, deeply engrossed in doggie-dreams.

Shhhhh...
(Photo: Sep 15, 2001, AP / U.S. Navy, P. Keres)

"He's used to working.  He just worked a little too hard this time."
-- Michael Norkelun of the Suffolk County SPCA, speaking about SAR dog "Ammo" sleeping nearby

"Kinsay" from the Texas Task Force One catches a few winks in the lap of a veterinary caretaker.
(Photo: Sep 20, 2001, Mike Rieger / FEMA)

It's exhausting... [Dausen] is doing great, but he's definitely tired at the end of the day."
-- Sharon Gattas, Riverside Urban Search and Rescue, speaking about her canine partner "Dausen".

After an exhausting shift, "Jake" gets pampered with a massage from chiropractor Jan Price at a care center near the search site.  Jake's partner Mary Flood (right) will have to take a number; dogs go first.
(Photo: AP / Alan Diaz)

These dogs provide just as much emotional support as they do technical guidance.  Just the sight of a dog is enough to lift the heaviest spirits, whether the dog knows it or not.  This one's probably just thinking about a hot blueberry muffin.
(Photo: Sep 23, 2001, Andrea Booher / FEMA)

"But then, if I was laying at the bottom of that pile, maybe a dog would lift my morale."
-- Unidentified rescue worker

Let sleeping dogs (and dog-handlers) lie;
they certainly deserve it.
(Photo: Sep 18, 2001, Reuters)

"Come, give me your hand: what's done cannot be undone: to bed, to bed, to bed."
-- Lady Macbeth, Act V, Sc. 1

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