Jake was an American black Labrador who served as a

search and rescue dog A search-and-rescue dog is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings. Applications A dog ...

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

and Hurricane Katrina. Jake served as a rescue dog from 2001 until his retirement because of cancer in 2006.

Early life

Jake was adopted when he was 10 months old by his owner, Mary Flood. Jake had been found abandoned on the streets with several injuries, including a dislocated hip and a broken leg.

Career

Jake's final owner, Mary Flood, is a member of Utah Task Force 1. Utah Task Force 1 is a federal search and rescue team trained to respond to

disasters A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

. Following his recovery from his injuries, Flood helped to train Jake to become a federal " U.S. government certified"

rescue dog Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party such as a person, shelter, or rescue organization. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters and rescue groups. Some or ...

. There are fewer than 200 of these dogs, who are trained to respond within 24 hours to disasters such as

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, earthquakes, wilderness, water rescue,

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

, or

avalanches An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

. Jake's owner later commented, "...''against all odds he became a world-class rescue dog''." Jake was most noted for his work following the

, where he helped search for human remains at

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the groun ...

. Jake, like other rescue workers and dogs, was honored by New Yorkers as a hero. Jake, wearing his search and rescue vest, was treated to a free steak dinner at an upscale

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

restaurant on the evening he arrived to work in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Jake served as a rescue dog at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

for 17 days. Like the humans and other rescue dogs he worked with, Jake was exposed to the physical hazards of Ground Zero, including sharp debris and unhealthy air. Jake also served in his search and rescue team following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Jake, along with his Utah Task Force, drove over 30 hours from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

to help search for survivors and victims of following the hurricane's landfall. Jake was also deployed to the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. In his later years, Jake helped to train younger prospective rescue dogs, as well as their handlers. Jake helped other dogs to learn to track

scent An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...

s in difficult places and terrain, including under the snow and even up trees. Jake also worked as a

therapy dog A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, w ...

at Utah nursing homes and at a camp for burn victims.

Death and legacy

Jake had been diagnosed with

hemangiosarcoma Hemangiosarcoma is a rapidly growing, highly invasive variety of cancer that occurs almost exclusively in dogs, and only rarely in cats, horses, mice, or humans (vinyl chloride toxicity). It is a sarcoma arising from the lining of blood vessels; ...

, a blood-borne cancer. He was

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, after he was found on his front

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...

shaking from a 105 degree

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...

. His owner reportedly took him for one last walk through the fields and creeks of

Oakley, Utah Oakley is a city in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,470 at the 2010 census. Geography Oakley is located east of Salt Lake City on SR-32, in the Kam ...

, before his death. Jake was 12 years old when he died. It is unknown whether Jake's cancer can be linked to his rescue work at

. Cancer is a very common

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

for

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s around Jake's age. Some rescue dog owners have claimed that their dogs have died because of their exposure to the air at the

in the aftermath of the

. However, scientists who have studied the health of rescue animals who worked Ground Zero have found no major signs of illness. In contrast, a 2007 study of 20,000 human rescue workers, such as firefighters, has found that 70% of these workers suffer from

respiratory The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies gre ...

illnesses. Cynthia Otto, who works for the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

's School of Veterinary Medicine, is currently conducting a study of the health of September 11 rescue dogs. The results of Jake's

necropsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

will be used as part of the Penn medical study. It is believed that illnesses diagnosed in Jake and other rescue animals may serve as harbingers for possible long-term problems in 9/11 rescue workers, both human and animal.

References

{{Reflist 1995 animal births 2007 animal deaths Animal deaths by euthanasia Individual dogs Search and rescue dogs Aftermath of the September 11 attacks

Early life

Career

Death and legacy

See also

References