Golden Retriever Bretagne and her handler are welcomed back to the city that changed both their lives fourteen years ago.
image via youtube screen capture
In 2001, when Golden Retriever Bretagne was just two years old, she and her handler Denise Corliss were dispatched from their home state of Texas to New York City for what would be the duo’s first deployment as a canine search and rescue team: Looking for survivors in the wreckage of the World Trade Center. At the time, it was Gretagne’s stoic task-mindedness which Corliss credits to giving her the strength to complete their unfathomable task.
image via youtube screen capture
Today, fourteen years later, Bretagne (pronounced like “Britney”) is believed to be the last living responder dog to have participated in the Ground Zero search and rescue efforts after the events of September 11th. She just turned sixteen (that’s one hundred and twelve in dog years) and to celebrate, she and Corliss returned to New York City, this time as the guests of honor at a party thrown on her behalf by 1 Hotel Central Park, and Barkpost.com.
With limousine rides, lush accommodations, a Times Square shout-out, and even the doggie equivalent to the key to the city, Bretagne and Corliss were given a hero’s welcome. At every stop on their trip, the pair were thanked for their efforts during one of New York’s darkest hours.
In addition to hosting the birthday festivities, 1 Hotel Central Park also donated $1,000 to Texas Task Force 1, the group responsible for training Bretagne, and other search and rescue dogs who are dispatched to disaster sites around the country.
image via youtube screen capture
[via bored panda, bark post, cover image via youtube screen capture]
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