What we’re reading today …
By Gina Spadafori
July 26, 2007
Mourning the death of a true hero: A search and rescue dog’s life ends at 12 (hanky warning):
A black Labrador retriever who searched for survivors in smoking debris after September 11 and flooded rubble after Hurricane Katrina has died after battling cancer.
Owner Mary Flood had 12-year-old Jake put to sleep Wednesday after a last stroll through the fields and a dip in the creek near their home in Oakley, Utah. Flood said Jake had been in pain, shaking with a 105-degree fever as he lay on the lawn.
[...]
Flood adopted Jake as a 10-month-old puppy. He had been abandoned on a street with a broken leg and a dislocated hip.
“But against all odds he became a world-class rescue dog,” said Flood, a member of Utah Task Force 1, a federal search-and-rescue team that looked for human remains at ground zero.
And while you have your hanky out … there’s this slide show about how we measure our lives in the generations of great dogs in our lives. (Thanks, Patti).
Wrapping up with this piece about a cat whose visits seem to predict death:
Oscar the cat makes his grand entrances just as life is about to leave.
“He’s a cat with an uncanny instinct for death,” said Dr. David M. Dosa, assistant professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and a geriatric specialist. “He attends deaths. He’s pretty insistent on it.”
In the two years since Oscar was adopted into the third-floor dementia unit of the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, he has maintained close vigil over the deaths of more than 25 patients, according to nursing staff, doctors who treat patients in the home, and an article in tomorrow’s New England Journal of Medicine, written by Dosa.
Here’s the rest. Love you, Oscar, but please … cancel the visit. I’m not ready to goooooooo …..
Farewell Jake! You will be missed.
Comment by Jamie — July 26, 2007 @ 11:10 am
Some time after 9/11, I had the incredible opportunity to spend a few days visiting with some of the exceptional search and rescue dogs and their handlers. I will never, ever forget the stories told and dog kisses offered. Jake was a love and Mary so very dedicated to S&R. This is especially sad news to me having met them both. Goodbye Jake. You were the best of the best.
Comment by Nadine L. — July 26, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
i realize the article is about Jake, but this just really pushes my buttons:
“Many human ground zero workers have complained of health problems they attribute to their time at the site . . . “
Complained?! They are sick and some have died or are dying. Thanks AP . . .
Comment by straybaby — July 26, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
I am humbled by these creatures.
Comment by Lynn — July 26, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
You are a hero Jake. Rest In Peace.
Comment by Trudy Jackson — July 26, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
I’d read about Jake’s passing (“after a last stroll through the fields and a dip in the creek…” — great last memories for dog and owner)and the nursing home cat (will we ever know HOW or WHY?), but hadn’t seen/heard the YouTube video slideshow — that is a keeper, even though I’ll have to go thru a bunch of tissues each time I watch it. Thanks for the links!
Comment by shadepuppy — July 26, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
Has anyone looked into the rates of 9/11 dogs dying from cancer? Bear, a golden who worked long hours on 9/11, died a couple of years ago from cancer.
Canaries in the coal mine?
Comment by KathyF — July 29, 2007 @ 11:39 am