Last known living 9/11 search dog dies in Texas
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The last known living 9/11 search dog has died in a Houston suburb at age 16.
A statement from the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service says Bretagne, a Golden Retriever, was euthanized Monday at a veterinary clinic in the Houston suburb of Cypress.
Bretagne was 2 years old when she and her handler, Denise Corliss, were part of the Texas Task Force 1 sent to the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attack brought down the buildings on Sept. 11, 2001. They spent 10 days at the scene searching rubble for human remains.
"We were there to try to find survivors," Corliss recalled to BarkPost in 2015. "And when our task force arrived in Ground Zero, I just couldn't believe the magnitude of it. Then I looked down to her, and she seemed stoic and ready to work."
Bretagne retired from active duty at age 9.
In September, BarkPost teamed up with 1 Hotels to give the beloved dog a day of celebration in New York City for her 16th birthday. The day was known as "Dog's Best Day," an on-going series from BarkPost that celebrates deserving dogs.
Bretagne was whisked throughout the city that day and given the hero treatment. It started with a limo at the airport and then a suite over looking Central Park at 1 Hotel.
Bretagne was then taken to see a personalized billboard in Times Square displaying a happy birthday message. She even received the doggie "Key to the City" presented by Hudson River Parks.
And it didn't stop there.
At the end of the adventure, her former teammates on search and rescue organization Texas Task Force 1 greeted Bretagne with a surprise party. Her happiness was evident by her big smile and when she went over to her pile of gifts and grabbed the bag of treats that were presumably for her.
Bretagne not only served at Ground Zero, but BarkPost explained she also helped with search and rescue in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.