R.I.P. Bretagne, Last Surviving 9/11 Search-and-Rescue Dog

Bretagne (pronounced “Brittany”), a Golden Retriever who worked at Ground Zero in September 2001, trying in vain to find survivors after the attacks on the World Trade Center, died today. She was 16 years old.

She is believed to have been the last survivor of the 100 search-and-rescue dogs deployed there.

“She had lived longer and accomplished more than anybody,” Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Capt. David Padovan told the New York Daily News.

As Bretagne made her final trip to the vet, firefighters lined up along the walkway, saluting her.

Her body was draped with a flag as it was transported to Texas A&M University, where a necroposy (an autopsy for animals) will be performed to study the effects of working at Ground Zero.

‘New Yorkers Stopped in Their Tracks to Thank Her for Her Service’

To celebrate her 16th birthday in September 2015, Bretagne was flown with her pet parents from their home in Cypress, Texas, to New York City, where she was treated to a party in her honor hosted by Barkpost.

“Everywhere Bretagne went,” BarkPost noted in a video, “New Yorkers stopped in their tracks to thank her for her service.”

In September 2014, Bretagne and Denise returned to the World Trade Center for the first time in 13 years.

“Seeing this kind of took my breath away a bit,” Denise told TODAY.com at the time. “It’s so calm and peaceful now, unlike the chaos of before. After 9/11, everybody — all of us — felt such sadness. We all wanted to help. I just felt so honored that we were able to respond.”

The Corliss family had welcomed Bretagne as a puppy in 1999. When Denise found out that civilians and their dogs can join federal emergency response teams to help out after a disaster, she and Bretagne began taking training classes together. In 2000, she and Bretagne were accepted into Texas Task Force 1.

Less than a year later, their very first deployment was to Ground Zero.

Bretagne worked 12-hour shifts for nearly two weeks. Along with the other search-and-rescue dogs, she became depressed when she found only human remains. To cheer the dogs, some workers buried themselves in the rubble so the dogs could discover someone alive.

Denise said her most memorable experience occurred as she and Bretagne waited in the staging area.

“Searchers would come by to pet her and to thank her, and would tell us their stories,” she told TODAY.com. “So it became an unexpected role of therapy dog. That’s what, among the other things, sticks out to me the most.”

After Ground Zero, Bretagne worked at several other major disaster sites, including New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. She officially retired when she was 9, but continued to work as a service dog at an elementary school, helping students with learning disabilities by being their audience as they read aloud to her.

“She still has this attitude of putting her paw up and saying, ‘Put me in, coach!’” Denise told TODAY.com. “She absolutely loves it.”

As Bretagne’s health deteriorated, her pet parents created a bucket list for her. One of the items they scratched off was bringing Bretagne to the elementary school so she could say goodbye to the students she had helped.

Rest in peace, beautiful Bretagne. Thank you so much for your service.

Grab a tissue or 10 and watch this touching video by Barkpost that documented “Bretagne’s Best Day” last September.

Photo via Twitter

How to Help the 276 Dogs Rescued from New Jersey Hoarders

JUNE 8, 2016 UPDATE: The first of the rescued dogs was adopted today, NJ.com reports, even as more dogs were still being removed from the house. Two adult dogs and two puppies were rescued today, bringing the total to 280 dogs. As the dogs are cleared medically, they are becoming available for new forever homes.

“We’re so happy today we’re able to get this first dog out the door,” Ross Licitra, chief of law enforcement for the Monmouth County SPCA (MCSPCA), told NJ.com. “And it’s a new beginning.”

The dogs are being adopted out on a first-come, first-serve basis; there are no waiting lists. For information about adopting them, visit the websites of the MCSPCA, Associated Humane Societies and St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center. 

In perhaps the worst case of dog hoarding in the state’s history, 276 dogs were rescued Friday from what authorities called “deplorable conditions” in a New Jersey house.

As investigators wearing hazmat gear walked through the house in Howell, N.J., a dog gave birth to four puppies on a countertop. There were holes in the walls, in which some of the dogs were living — and officials from the fire department had to use thermal-imaging cameras to find them.

“We at Associated Humane Societies have been involved with rescuing animals from hoarding situations many, many times in the past, but this many dogs in one home is astounding, even for us,” wrote the shelter, based in Forked River, N.J., which took in 60 of the dogs.

The unidentified middle-aged couple living at the house are facing “an enormous amount of charges,” Ross Licitra, chief of law enforcement for the Monmouth County SPCA, which also took in many of the dogs, told NJ.com.

All the dogs are in fair condition, but most of them are infested with fleas. Licitra called it a “crime of omission.” He believes the couple let the situation get out of hand.

The dogs are mostly small breeds, including Pugs, Yorkies and Chihuahuas, and they will soon need new forever homes. They are currently being cared for by St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center as well as the Associated Humane Societies and Monmouth County SPCA.

Heather Cammissa, president and CEO of St. Hubert’s, told NJ.com some of the dogs may be ready for adoption early this week.

“They’ve been around other animals, obviously, just not a lot of people,” she said.

The Associated Humane Societies wrote on its Facebook page yesterday that the “adorable and sweet little dogs have led a lifetime of isolation and have lived in filth and squalor. Once everything settles down for them, we will begin to assess their personalities and work on getting them to overcome their fears.”

In the meantime, its phones have been “ringing off the hook” since Friday, Sgt. Kevin Rooney told NJ.com.

The shelters caring for the 276 dogs can really use our help. Every dog needs “vaccinations, medical clearance, spay or neuter, food, water and shelter,” according to the Monmouth County SPCA. “The average cost for an animal at the shelter is $20 per day.”

Here are links to the shelters’ donation pages:

Photo via Facebook

Watch a Tethered Dog Rescued During Texas Floods

AUGUST 2017 UPDATE: Here’s how to help animal shelters and rescues affected by Hurricane Harvey.

JUNE 8, 2016 UPDATE: Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, who helped in the rescue, has officially adopted Archer. The dog’s owner, Mario Gallardo, told KPRC he didn’t realize how high the water would rise when he tied Archer to the porch and left him there — and he didn’t bother to tell authorities then that he’d left his dog behind.

“I am happy to say the only water this girl will be in now is the swimming pool in my backyard!” Nehls wrote on his Facebook page June 5. “We picked her up today from the Houston Humane Society. Welcome to the family!”

“They chained him to the front of the [expletive] house?” said someone in an airboat Tuesday as it made its way down a street in Rosenberg, Texas, which had been flooded by the historic rising of the Brazos River.

He was referring to a dog who’d been tied to the front porch of a house. The dog was struggling to keep her head above the rising floodwater.

In the airboat were KPRC reporter Phil Archer, photographer Jeovany Luna, Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, and volunteers Richard Allen and Jeff Shimek.

With a camera rolling, Archer and Shimek jumped out of the boat and rescued the dog, minutes before she would have drowned.

“This is infuriating,” wrote Nehls on his Facebook page. “These residents will get a visit from me when they return.”

Later that day, the Houston Humane Society wrote on its Facebook page that it would get the dog “cleaned up, fed (although I hear the sheriff shared a ham sandwich with her earlier), vaccinated and settled in for the night.” Anyone interested in adopting her (she’s appropriately been named “Archer” by shelter staff) is asked to email adoptions@houstonhumane.org.

Phil Archer has been reporting for KPRC for 40 years, according to his Facebook page. After taking the dog to the Houston Humane Society, he and the other heroes went back and rescued more dogs.



How to Help Pets Affected by the Texas Floods

May was the rainiest month in Texas history, and the storms keep on coming. More than half of Texas is under flood watches or warnings, overwhelming animal shelters and rescues. Here are links to the donation pages for some shelters in the Houston area:

Photo via YouTube

Rape Charges Dropped Against Toney Converse of ‘Pit Bulls and Parolees’

According to a lawsuit filed in June 2015 by Jennifer Stampfel, after she visited Villalobos Rescue Center (VRC), the rescue on Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls and Parolees,” Toney Converse, a parolee featured on the reality show, “drugged her, raped her twice, stole her virginity, transmitted an STD to her, impregnated (her) and threatened to kill her,” the New Orleans Advocate reported.

Stampfel, a seminary student from Pittsburgh, Pa., wanted her name to be made public to “bring awareness to the situation,” her attorney, Charles Marshall III, told news sources at the time.

Stampfel didn’t only sue Converse. She also sued VRC, its owner Tia Torres, Tahyo Tavern (a bar owned by Torres) and 44 Blue, the production company for “Pit Bulls and Parolees,” all for failing to supervise Converse.

“The true and innocent victims here are the dogs of Villalobos Rescue Center,” Torres said in a statement last year. “What did they ever do to her that warrants taking away the donations used to feed them, house them, treat them for deadly heartworm disease and ultimately get them to a new home? What kind of person wants to be responsible for causing irreparable damage to hundreds…no, thousands of homeless dogs?”

To prepare financially for the lawsuit, VRC closed two satellite locations and consolidated the dogs on a donated property in rural Louisiana. The past season of “Pit Bulls and Parolees” didn’t mention the lawsuits but showed Torres and her family, along with volunteers, getting the new property ready for the dogs.

One year later, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office has decided not to prosecute Converse.

“Our office has concluded that based on the facts presented, the witnesses interviewed and the circumstances described in the report, the matter does not merit prosecution,” wrote First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin in a letter to New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, the Times-Picayune reports.

The civil suit, however, is still pending.



Stampfel’s ‘Disgusting’ Allegations

These are the pretty far-fetched facts of the case, according to Stampfel’s lawsuit.

Stampfel said she first met Converse in April 2014, when she was visiting New Orleans and stopped by VRC. She returned to the city two months later to attend the Summer Hebrew Institute at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

While she and Converse were at Tahyo Tavern, a bar owned by Torres, Stampfel says Converse drugged her soda and later raped her at the house where he was living. She did not report the rape until two weeks later, after finding out she was pregnant.

Stampfel then signed up for VRC’s Bully Boot Camp program for the purpose of confronting Converse about the rape and telling Torres, according to the lawsuit. In August 2014, while confronting Converse at the same house where the rape had allegedly occurred, Stampfel said he again sexually assaulted her.

I don’t understand why Stampfel would return to VRC and Converse — and why she would sue VRC, which is only punishing the dogs.

“I have been raped and NEVER did I go back for it to happen again!!!” wrote a commenter on my June 2015 story about the lawsuits. “I don’t know this girl but something just don’t sound right. Just not believable.”

Converse’s attorneys called Stampfel’s allegations disgusting and defamatory. Converse planned to countersue for defamation.

“Everything about our relationship was consensual from the day she came down to the day she left, to my knowledge,” Converse told WDSU.

Photo via Facebook

RECALL ALERT: Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Dog Food

Blue Buffalo Company is voluntarily recalling some Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Fish and Sweet Potato Recipe dry dog food because of high moisture levels and the potential for mold, PetSmart announced May 27.

According to Dog Food Advisor, only one batch, which was manufactured within a two-hour period, is being recalled.

The following Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Fish and Sweet Potato Recipe dog food products are included in this recall:

  • Size: 30-lb. bags
  • UPC: 8596100032
  • Best By Date: APR 11 17
  • Lot Code: AH 2A followed by a number ranging from 1208 to 1400

The lot code is located on the lower right of the back of the bag.

Blue Buffalo Company, based in Wilton, Conn., has not reported any dogs becoming ill after eating the food.

If you purchased the recalled product, do not feed it to your pet. Return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

For more information about this recall, call Blue Buffalo customer service at 800-919-2833 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. MDT, or go to its website (which, as of Monday afternoon, had no information about this recall).

Photos via BlueBuffalo.com, PetSmart

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