Thank you to Susan for sending me these wonderful photos and stories about these very special hero dogs.  I hope this warms your heart today as much as it did mine.

THESE OLD WONDERFUL FACES SAY IT ALL…

These are the surviving dogs that worked the trade center that are still alive but
retired, they are heroes too, their eyes say everything you need to know about
them. Just amazing creatures True heroes of 9/11 still with us today…

Moxie, 13, from Winthrop , Massachusetts , arrived with
her handler, Mark Aliberti, at the World Trade Center on the
evening of September 11 and searched the site for eight days.

Tara, 16, from Ipswich, Massachusetts , arrived at the
World Trade Center on the night of the 11th. The dog
and her handler Lee Prentiss were there for eight days.

Kaiser, 12, pictured at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, was deployed
to the World Trade Center on September 11 and searched tirelessly for
people in the rubble.

Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Cypress, Texas, arrived at
the site in New York on September 17, remaining there for ten days.

Guinness, 15, from Highland , California , started work at the site with Sheila McKee
on the morning of September 13 and was deployed at the site for 11 days.

Merlyn and his handler Matt Claussen were deployed to Ground
Zero on September 24, working the night shift for five days.

Red, 11, from Annapolis , Maryland , went with Heather Roche to the Pentagon
from September 16 until the 27 as part of the Bay Area Recovery Canines.

Abigail, above, was deployed on the evening of September 17,
searching for 10 days while Tuff arrived in New York at 11:00
pm on the day of attack to start working early the next day.

Handler Julie Noyes and Hoke were deployed to
the World Trade Center from their home in Denver
on September 24 and searched for five days.

Scout and another unknown dog lie among the rubble at Ground Zero,
just two of nearly 100 search and rescue animals who helped to search
for survivors. During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000
people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave
owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.

Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have
been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled ‘Retrieved’.
The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble,
along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.

Traveling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland , Dutch
photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their
twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full
decade on from 9/11. Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called
Retrieved. Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs
Charlotte wanted ‘Retrieved’ to mark not only the anniversary of the
September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first
responders and their dogs.’ I felt this was a turning point, especially for the
dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human
stories involved,’ explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New
York and Amsterdam.’They speak to us as a different species and animals
are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.’