14 dogs died after exposure to WTC rubble, but scientists doubt link

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Posted on Tue, Aug. 24, 2004

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14 dogs died after exposure to WTC rubble, but scientists doubt link

BY HEIDI EVANS

New York Daily News

NEW YORK - (KRT) - Fourteen search and rescue dogs have died since their

exposure to toxic rubble from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack - including eight

from cancer, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania School of

Veterinary Medicine. But researchers believe there is no connection between the

deaths and the chemicals they were exposed to.

Despite the study's findings, some of the owners whose dogs have died

still blame the toxic brew the dogs immersed themselves in during the hunt for

survivors and remains.

" We can't find any link at this point that ties the 14 deaths to events of

Sept. 11, " said Dr. Otto, the study's lead researcher. " Some have passed

away, but the causes of death are no different than in the control group. That

is good news. "

Otto's team, which has been monitoring the health of 97 dogs who worked at

Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, did

find " significantly higher " antibodies in the search dogs in the first year

after the terrorist attack.

The elevated presence of antibodies, she explained, showed the dogs had

been exposed to foreign substances that pressed their immune systems into higher

gear.

Although Otto was heartened to find the vast majority of dogs were in good

health, given the exposure and the blood changes in the first year, questions

remain about possible long-term effects.

" I don't think these dogs are completely out of the woods, " she said.

" That is why we need to monitor these dogs until the end of their lives - for

the dogs' sake and for people's sake. If there is a problem in the dogs down the

line, there is a good chance a similar problem could be found in people. "

Among the canine deaths was Servus, a 12-year-old Belgian Malinois police

dog, who had to be carried out on a stretcher from Ground Zero after he fell

into a hole face down, his snout and lungs filled with concrete dust and ash. He

died of pancreatitis, Otto said.

And , a 4-year-old German shepherd who spent three days crawling on

her belly trying to scent any survivors, was put down Aug. 2, 2002, ravaged by

an unusual bone-eating fungal infection.

" had been to the vet two months before she was deployed, and her

blood work and X-rays were fine, " said Atlas, a New Jersey emergency

medical technician and 's handler. " I know the university did everything

they could to help her, and they say that was probably genetically

predisposed to the disease, but in my heart I know what I feel. "

Gilkey, a land firefighter, lost his 10-year-old chocolate

Labrador retriever, Bear, to hepatitis last September. The dog's liver tests

were not normal before the eight nights he spent on the World Trade Center pile,

and blood tests and a biopsy showed disease soon afterward.

" I was surprised, " Gilkey said, when he got the medical results. " But to

be perfectly honest, I don't think Bear was made sick by the World Trade

Center. " Fighting back emotion, Gilkey added, " Bear and I had 21 months together

after the diagnosis. I miss him terribly. "

Dr. Philip Fox of Manhattan's Animal Medical Center, who has been

monitoring the health of 30 New York City police dogs who worked at the World

Trade Center, agreed with Otto's findings.

" These dogs have not been inundated by suspicious or debilitating diseases

that we were afraid might occur, " Fox said.

" They all had lung irritation, eye irritation and coughing in the first

few weeks, but they seem to be clinically healthy almost three years later,

except for a couple of animals who died of cancer that would be expected, given

their age and breed. "

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© 2004, New York Daily News.

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