September 11th, 2011 Ceremony to Recognize 9/11 Working Dog

Liberty State Park, Jersey City 12:45 pm

River View Observer Staff

On Sun, Sept 11th, “Finding One Another: the 10th Anniversary Tribute to the Canine Search & Rescue Community of 9/11”  will honor canine working dog teams on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. “Finding One Another” has identified more than 950 working dog teams (civilian, government, law enforcement and military) who served in response to 9/11. These teams were involved with search and rescue, recovery and security efforts at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, Shanksville, and the Fresh Kills Landfill recovery site.

“Finding One Another” has organized a Recognition Ceremony at Liberty State Park in Jersey City starting at 12:45 p.m. More than 1,000 canine working dog teams who served at the 9/11 sites have been invited to the event and current working dog teams will line the processional route honoring the 9/11 teams.

The Recognition Ceremony will begin with an address by U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey.  Following Senator Lautenberg’s address, attendees will pause at 1:00 p.m. for a Moment of Remembrance, when firehouses, churches, and other institutions across the country will sound sirens and ring bells in honor of those lost on 9/11. 

“These sirens and bells are a signal for each person to stop and remember the people we have lost and demonstrate the perseverance the American people have shown since that fateful day,” Lautenberg wrote in a statement.

At the ceremony, the first Sirius Courage Award will be presented posthumously to Army Sgt. Zainah Caye Creamer, the first woman military working dog handler killed in combat in the history of the United States. She died in Afghanistan on January 12, 2011. The award is named after the only dog to be killed at Ground Zero and will be presented by his handler, Lt. Lim of the Port Authority Police.

Civilian, law enforcement and military working dog teams of 9/11 will be honored at the Recognition Ceremony. At the end of the Recognition Ceremony, members of AKC Parent Clubs, working dog clubs and other organizations will be invited to sign a “Convention on Cooperation among American Working Dog Organizations,” with the formalities of a treaty signing ceremony. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense will be in attendance to receive the document. This ceremony will be a re-signing of the same document that was originally signed in 2008 at the Doberman Pinscher Centennial in Topeka, Kansas.

The momentum generated by the Recognition Ceremony and the historic signing of the “Convention on Cooperation” will be used to plan a White House Conference on Working Dogs in America. Through the commitment of American dog breeders to DHS and others, the political capital of these efforts may be parlayed into alliances that will help advance the cause of providing American Dogs for American Security to further the security of the United States.

“Finding One Another: The 10th Anniversary Tribute to the Canine Search & Rescue Community of 9/11” is spearheaded by the Tails of Hope Foundation. This New York based non-profit is dedicated to advancing the fields of veterinary and human medicine through a comparative medicine approach that focuses on eradicating cancer and other life-threatening diseases affecting companion animals and people.
The project’s Advisory Committee includes veterinary and human medical experts, SAR volunteers, acclaimed artists, educators, business, trauma and non-profit professionals, many of whom served at the 9/11 sites, all of whom are dedicated to honoring the canine/human partnership.

Sun, Sept. 11, 12:45 p.m.
9/11 Working Dog Recognition CeremonyLiberty State Park
Jersey City, NJ
For more information: www.findingoneanother.org.