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18 MARCH 2005 - MIAMI HERALD — If he were alone, then the utility belt strapped to Capt. Scott Shields' waist would have been enough to captivate the roomful of third-graders. But it was the shaggy Golden Retriever sprawled at his feet that grabbed the attention of Gisell Ahmad's class at North Beach Elementary — not the man who took part in search and rescue efforts at New York City's ground zero in September 2001.
Shields, 53, was back at the very school he attended 40 years ago, visiting for career week.
"Nobody really knows my name," said Shields, while the students crowded around Theodore, the shaggy dog at his feet, on Thursday. "That's because my dogs are so famous."
Shields, who led the New York City Parks and Recreation Department's search and rescue team for 13 years, was at ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. His partner that day: Bear, Theodore's father.
Although there were 350 dogs on the scene, 11-year-old Bear found more victims than any other canine. Among them: Fire Department Chief Peter Ganci, buried under 15 feet of ash and rubble. Shields and the dog received insurmountable praise. But Bear suffered a small wound on his back during the rescue efforts, and because of all the ash and debris floating through the air, the dog developed cancer and died about a year after the attacks.
In his book Bear: Heart of a Hero, Shields recounts his experiences with the dog, from the time of his birth to his death.
FINDING INSPIRATION
Recently Shields served as the president of the nonprofit Bear Search and Rescue Foundation, which trains and equips teams used to help find missing children, Alzheimer's patients, kidnap victims, and to respond to disasters. The foundation also provides free healthcare to all dogs who worked at ground zero and the Pentagon.
After telling Ahmad's third-grade class about Bear, Shields hung his photograph on the blackboard behind him.
"If a dog can be a hero, then there is no limit to what we can do," Shields said, while Sandra Vanegas and Subrina Koenig ran their small hands through Theodore's thick fur.
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Shields knew that most of the young, wide-eyed students listening to his tale couldn't relate to the disastrous events of Sept. 11, so pulled out a frayed tennis ball and bounced it against the tiled floor. Theodore came to life, leaping into the air to snag the ball out of his hand.
LIKE HIS DAD
The dog is on the same track as his father, already racking up several rescues throughout New York, said Shields, who recently retired and moved back to Miami-Dade.
Said Shields: "The legend of Bear lives on."
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