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Air Today . . . Gone Tomorrow Article Man's best friend is
man's health sentinel
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY, March 27,
2002
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, man's best friend was on the scene,
working tirelessly. Now, medical experts want to give these search-and-rescue dogs a hand
and at the same time learn valuable lessons that may apply to humans as well. A pair of
studies underway aims to follow the police dogs and canine search teams who patrolled the
wreckage of the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Amid rising concerns about the long-term
health effects on rescue workers there from toxins at the crash sites, the dogs may serve
as medical sentinels for future ailments.
"Our big concern is carcinogens like asbestos and concrete dust (that) we are
concerned could lead to cancer," says critical care veterinarian Cynthia Otto of the
University of Pennsylvania, part of a group of researchers, physicians and psychologists
who have begun a three-year study of the search-and-rescue mission's health effects.
About 300 dog-and-handler teams worked at the Pentagon and World Trade Center sites.
"We worked 16-hour days," says Otto, who assisted the canine search-and-rescue
team's efforts at the World Trade Center site for eight days after the tragedy, alongside
other veterinarians. "The dogs were exhausted, they worked really hard. It was much
more of an endurance test than we anticipated."
Her team will focus mainly on about 100 Federal Emergency Management Agency team dogs,
taking regular chest X-rays and blood tests to check for dangerous levels of chemicals.
Cancers that take decades to manifest in people would appear in a few years in the dogs,
Otto says. Her colleagues will survey the psychological effects of the searches, where
very few survivors were found, on the human handlers.
Another 200 privately owned dogs will have their health monitored through regular surveys.
For statistical purposes, the study dogs will be matched to similar search dogs that
didn't participate in the post-Sept. 11 efforts, to make sure health effects are truly
caused by the disaster recovery.
A second study conducted by New York's Animal Medical Center will focus on police and
bomb-detecting dogs at the sites. That effort will screen dogs for anthrax as well.
In general, dogs have a faster metabolism, weigh less and live shorter lives than people,
so toxins affect them more quickly, Otto says. Carcinogens in ash that people might shed
when they remove the day's clothes linger on dog fur, she says.
"It's very important to us that the health of these dogs who serve so well be
protected," says Deborah Lynch of the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation,
which is supporting the efforts. Her group is still trying to raise $80,000 to fund the
$400,000 studies, which will ensure treatment for dogs that get sick.
One World Trade Center search dog, a Belgian Malinois named Servus, died last week after
damaging his lungs when he fell into ash at the site. "That really motivated us to
support tracking the dogs," Lynch says.
Training a dog in minimum search-and-rescue skills requires two years of daily
instruction. The most advanced skills take four years to learn. Privately training one dog
represents at least a $10,000 investment, Lynch says, and they often aren't covered by
veterinary insurance. "People don't realize those 300 dogs used after the disasters
were about all we had. If they were wiped out by one disaster, we couldn't just run out
and get more."
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