Jake

THE RESCUE DOG

TEXT: GEORGIA HARLEY

What makes a hero? Bravery? Selflessness? Sacrifice? For years and years, dogs have been recognised as heroes for demonstrating just these qualities and more. In this series, we tell the stories of these remarkable dogs to make sure that their heroic pursuits are not forgotten.

The first dog selected for our series is Jake, an American black Labrador. Jake started his life as a stray, having been badly mistreated by humans, and ended up rescuing people from the 9/11 attacks on The World Trade Centre, as well as from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and hurricaine Rita.

EARLY LIFE

Jake was originally found as a stray. When he was first picked up, he had a broken leg and an injured hip. It was believed he had sustained these injuries having been thrown out of a window by his breeders when they discovered he had been born with hip dysplasia.

Thankfully his fortunes changed at ten months of age when he was adopted by Mary Flood, a member of the Utah Task Force. After just a year of training together at home, Jake became one of just 200 government-certified Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States.

WORKING LIFE

In his role as a Search and Rescue Dog of the United States, he served his people, saving victims in both the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, hurricane Katrina and hurricane Rita. He found countless survivors, particularly in the floods after the hurricane.

It was not unusual for Jake to work twelve-hour shifts to recover as many people as possible. After the 9/11 attacks, he was one of 300 dogs put to work at Ground Zero. Many of these dogs were trained on search and rescue work in the mountains and struggled with the stressful city conditions. But Jake remained unphased, working tirelessly to save the survivors. He served in the dangerous conditions in the buildings there for 17 days.

In his later years, Jake helped to train younger prospective rescue dogs and their handlers. He helped other dogs to learn to track scents in difficult places and terrain, including under snow and up trees.

Even after his retirement from search and rescue work, he continued to serve people as a therapy dog for children recovering from burns and senior citizens in need of company and support.

DID YOU KNOW?

In severe disaster situations, where search and rescue dogs struggle to recover many people or struggle (as in the case of 9/11) to get through the rubble and debris, handlers set up ‘dummy’ rescues at the site to help keep the morale of the dogs high for their work.

DEATH

Jake was laid to rest at the age of twelve due to hemangiosarcoma, a blood-borne cancer. His owner reportedly took him for one last walk through the fields and creeks of Oakley, Utah, before he was put to sleep.

LEGACY

Jake the Labrador became an American hero, even famously earning a steak dinner in one of Manhattan’s top restaurants. He will be remembered for his courage, bravery, selflessness and for, overall, being a very good boy.

DID YOU KNOW?

Labradors are often used for search and rescue due to their ability to stay concentrated on a scent for a prolonged amount of time. Labradors are also calmer than many other breeds, meaning that in more dangerous or stressful situations, they still have the ability to track a scent and find the person.