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It was there at Ground Zero that we met Captain Scott Shields and his search rescue dog Theodore (son of search rescue dog Bear). Captain Scott Shields was one of the first people along with his search rescue dog Bear into ground zero. Bear was an 11 year old Golden Retriever and helped greatly in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. Bear was the first dog on the scene.
There have been 100's of stories written about the heroism displayed at ground zero in the harrowing moments that will be forever frozen in time, following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Fire, police, emergency management professionals were joined by ordinary citizens in the country's hour of need. Perhaps one of the most poignant stories is that of "Bear." Captain Scott Shields has vividly recaptured those moments in a book entitled "Bear, Heart of a Hero."
Captain Shields was trained in marine emergency and national disaster management by the U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard, FEMA and The Red Cross. Upon seeing the live broadcast of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center Towers, Scott jumped into his car and made the frantic trek to N.Y.C in record breaking time. By his side was his beloved dog Bear. Little did Shields realize that he and Bear would be the first canine team to arrive at Ground Zero. Nor could he imagine the extraordinary measures that Bear would take in the search and rescue efforts. Bear placed himself in harms way. He cared very little for his own safety.
When called upon by his beloved master, Bear would respond to Shield's command to "Find the Baby". One of the very first victims Bear found was the body of FDNY Chief Peter Ganci Jr.
Bear and Captain Shields arrived at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan just 38 minutes after the second plane crashed into the Twin Towers. Once there, the pair worked straight through the night and into the following morning. According to firemen on the scene, Bear was the only search-and-rescue dog known to be working the entire west side of the site for approximately six or seven hours following the tragedy. Through the initial days of rescue efforts, Bear worked an exhausting eighteen hours per day searching for survivors and victims, often being hoisted into sunken pockets of rubble, glass and metal to look for bodies.
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Although records were kept of Bear's finds (indeed of all the finds made at the site), it is virtually impossible to make a total estimation of Bear's work in the area. Nevertheless, it is believed that Bear probably garnered the most hits of any rescue worker who searched the area...man or dog. Bear is also credited with making the only live finds by a canine looking for bodies. In recognition of his contribution to the World Trade Center rescue effort, Bear was the recipient of many honors. The 2003 Guiness Book of World Records declared this courageous canine to be the "most celebrated dog in the world." Bear also led New York City's Columbus Day Parade down Fifth Avenue in the Fall of 2001 and, on November 17, 2001, Bear and Captain Shields were presented with "The Hero's Award" by the International Cat Society at the Westchester County Cat Show, something which Captain Shields stated, "brought the first smile to my face since the incident, just the irony of the cats giving a dog an award." Bear received many such honors.
His valiant participation at the World Trade Center in September of 2001, however, did not leave him unscathed. The long hours and hard work took its toll. Bear's back was injured by a jagged piece of metal on the first night but, after being treated at a triage center on the site, he went straight back to work. Later, the area around this wound would become cancerous and his weight would drop from 110 pounds to 64 pounds. In all, Bear spent over a year in and around the smoldering site which had once been the location of New York City's World Trade Center...bringing a smile to otherwise grim faces and buoying flagging spirits with a wag of his tail.
Sadly, Bear passed away on September 23, 2002, six weeks short of his thirteenth birthday. He had been suffering for some time with the effects of multiple forms of cancer...at first thought to be an arthritic condition, although Bear's autopsy later revealed that he did not have arthritis. During the last year of his life, Bear appeared at many fund-raising events in the Greater New York area and received countless accolades for his lifetime of courageous work. After his death, the gentle and gallant Golden Retriever was honored with a funeral as a New York City Firefighter. His body was transported by an FDNY Aviation Company from the New York Animal Medical Center to the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery Crematorium and his ashes taken home by Captain Shields who keeps them in a plain gold box adorned with a plaque which records Bear's date of birth, date of death and is inscribed with the words: "Bear Shields, Hero of the World Trade Center."
On October 13, 2002, the State Senate passed a proclamation making that day "Captain Scott Shields and Bear Day" in New York. On October 27, 2002, the USS Intrepid hosted a memorial service for Bear beside the Sea-Air-Space Museum in Manhattan. Hundreds of people and a few dozen dogs attended the ceremony. An officer played "Taps", an opera singer sang "Ava Maria" and a fly-by missing man formation was provided by Flight Across America. It was a fitting goodbye to a relentless and untiring hero, but perhaps the best tribute that can be paid to Bear is one which came from Firefighter Jean Paul Augier in a Comcast interview on the second afternoon at ground zero. He described how Bear was "phenomenal" and "amazing", working as hard as any human on the site and never hesitating to climb up over pieces of steel and crushed concrete. "How much do you credit Bear with?" Firefighter Augier was asked. He replied with one word..."Everything!"
Afterword
Bear's Accomplishments:
- Bear and his dad, Captain Scott Shields,
led the first search teams at Ground Zero
- Credited with finding the most victims
at the WTC and the only live finds by a dog
- Found FDNY Chief Peter Ganci and Fire
Commissioner William Feehan
- Honored as a "Hero to Humanity" by The
United Nations and his portrait hung there for the World
Peace Month (2003)
- Three states declared "Captain Shields
and Bear Days" (N.Y., Oct 13th, CT. July 9th, N.J. Sept
21)
- Bear was asked to lead the 2002 Columbus
Day Parade in New York City
- Honored by United States Army for Extraordinary
Service to Humanity
- Fought much publicized battle to win insurance
for all 9/11 dogs
- Was wounded at Ground Zero and died one
year later of multiple forms of cancer
- Buried as a New York City fireman and
his memorial service attended by thonds on the USS Intrepid
in New York Harbor. A missing man formation flown in his
honor
- The first rescue canine to be honored
by the FDNY-EMS Academy in Fort Totten, New York on September
11th 2004. Bear's name is etched into a brick that is
part of the permanent memorial to the fallen heroes of
9/11.
- Honored in the 108th Congress as a Hero
to the people of the United States
- The British Army honored Bear seven times
while he was alive. When he passed the Band of the 1st
Battalion of the Scots Guards wrote a pipe song "Lament
for the Golden Bear" in his honor that is now part of
British Martial Music.
- A biography, Bear: Heart of a Hero (The
Story of America's Most Decorated Dog) by Captain Scott
Shields and Nancy M. West was published in 2003 by Hero
Dog Publications (160 pp, $15.95 available: www.herodogpublications.com).
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, U.N. Messenger of Peace said Bear:
Heart of a Hero was, "the best human/animal relationship
story I ever read."
- Bear has been honored hundreds of other
times for a complete list contact Hero Dog Publications.
His greatest honor is that his mission lives on in the
Bear Search & Rescue Foundation paying to train and equip
search & rescue teams throughout the United States "so
that others may live"! For more information go to: www.bearsearchandrescue.org
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