Kudos for K-9s at Church Feast
By JENNIFER WEIL and RALPH R. ORTEGA
Daily News Writers
If all dogs go to heaven, then make room for New York's furriest who answered the call on Sept. 11.
Search-and-rescue dogs received blessings yesterday for their brave service in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack at churches celebrating the feast of St. Francis of Assisi - the patron saint of animals.
Search canine hero Nela and handler Heather Nothstein of Pennsylvania attend feast of St. Francis of Assisi in Manhattan yesterday.
Hundreds of pet owners and their critters filled pews throughout the city to honor the brave pooches that have helped search for survivors at Ground Zero.
"It's scary, but you're there for a job and you do it. You just want to help people out," said K-9 unit Police Officer John Folio, who brought his beloved German shepherd, Dodger, for a special blessing at St. Bartholomew's Church in midtown Manhattan.
The NYPD has 33 dogs working at Ground Zero, each specially trained to sniff out survivors and bodies. Rescue officials also said they have had as many as 350 other dogs available to them from around the country.
"Everyone thinks of only the firemen and the policemen. But the animals are also in there. They're heroes, too," said Herman Frohberg, who with his white cat, Sugar Baby, joined the church congregation in a standing ovation for the rescue dogs.
Blessings were given at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on the upper West Side after a bald eagle named Betsy led a procession of seven rescue dogs and their handlers into the church. With them was a menagerie of exotic beasts, including llamas, owls, snakes and goats.
Canines Suffer, Too
Paul Morgan, a dog handler from Smithtown, L.I., and his golden retriever, Cody Bear, recovered three bodies at the World Trade Center site.
"I've seen 20, 30, 100 bodies burned up by napalm," said Morgan, a Vietnam War veteran. "But I've never seen anything like this."
The canines honored also have suffered losses; a rescue dog died from exhaustion after searching for days through the rubble, said the Rev. Mary Haddad during a sermon she delivered at the St. Bartholomew's service.
Haddad, who visited Ground Zero a week ago, said she noticed that the rescue dogs seem to experience "the letdown that comes from being trained to find human beings, and coming up empty-handed, day after day."
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