Apollo was a

search and rescue dog A search-and-rescue (SAR) dog is a dog trained to respond to crime scenes, accidents, missing persons events, as well as Natural disaster, natural or Disaster, man-made disasters. These dogs detect human scent, which is a distinct odor of skin f ...

who served with the K-9 unit of the

New York Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

. He was awarded the

Dickin Medal The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in World War II. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried ...

, the animals' equivalent of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, in recognition of the work done by all search and rescue dogs following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Apollo and his handler were working at the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

soon after the attacks.

Life and career

Apollo was a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German Dog breed, breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various Old German herding dogs, traditional German herding dog ...

born around 1992, who was in service with the K-9 unit of the

(NYPD). In 1994, he graduated from the NYPD Canine Special Operations Division, and was one of the first dogs to learn

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

. Apollo passed Type-II training in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in 1997, and Type-I in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

in 1999. He was also part of the first NYPD K-9 team to pass them for Urban Search and Rescue New York Task Force 1. Apollo and his handler Peter Davis also worked in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

after a hurricane. Apollo died in November 2006.

September 11 attacks

Apollo and his handler, Peter Davis, were called in to assist with the rescue operations after the

September 11 terror attacks September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the beg ...

. They arrived at the

fifteen minutes after the fall of the

twin towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

, making Apollo the first search and rescue dog to arrive at the site. At one point, Apollo was almost killed by flames and falling debris, however, he survived, having been drenched after falling into a pool of water just before this incident. Apollo started working again as soon as Davis had brushed the debris off him, saving eight lives in total.

Recognition

Apollo received the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the

, on behalf of all the search and rescue dogs who participated in the rescue operations at the World Trade Center site and the Pentagon. He received the award along with guide dogs Roselle and Salty, who rescued their owners from the World Trade Center. The citation for the award was as follows: Apollo received the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit breed registry, registry of purebred dog pedigree (animal), pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions eve ...

Ace award in 2001. He was also honoured for his work at the

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, held annually in the New York metropolitan area. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs are required to be on ...

of 2002, in which he and several other dogs from the New York Police Department's K-9 unit participated.

References

External links

PDSA Dickin Medal, including "Roll of Honor" PDF
{{Dickin Medal 1992 animal births 2006 animal deaths German shepherds New York City Police Department Individual dogs awarded the Dickin Medal

Life and career

September 11 attacks

Recognition

See also

References

External links