Last known living 9/11 search dog, Bretagne, dies at 16

(Image credit: Twitter.com/nkhensley)

last updated 7 June 2016

Bretagne, the last known living 9/11 search dog, died Monday at the age of 16.

The golden retriever was euthanized Monday at a veterinary clinic in a Houston suburb, and vets at Texas A&M will study her body for any effects Ground Zero had on her, the New York Daily News reports. At age 2, Bretagne and her handler, Denise Corliss, were sent to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as part of Texas Task Force 1. For 10 days, Bretagne searched for human remains in the rubble, alongside close to 300 other dogs.

Bretagne retired from active duty when she was 10, and last year, Corliss brought her to the 9/11 memorial in New York City. When word spread around Houston that an ill Bretagne was going to be euthanized on Monday, local firefighters gathered at the animal hospital to give her a final salute. "She had lived longer and accomplished more than anybody," Capt. David Padovan, spokesman for the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department, told the Daily News. "She was one of a kind. She was always eager to do searches, even after she 'retired.'"

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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