FURRY HEROES

1 Back in 2001, there was a terrible disaster in lower Manhattan, New York. There used to be two tall buildings called the Twin Towers. They were called the Twin Towers because there were two of them and they looked nearly the same. They had 110 floors and were the tallest buildings in New York City. For a short time, they were the tallest buildings in the world. People came from all over the world to see them and enjoy the view from the observation deck in the South Tower. The buildings were filled with the offices of different companies. 35,000 people worked in the towers and 430 companies had their offices there. 

2 On September 11, 2001, a group of terrible men hijacked four airplanes and crashed two of them into the Twin Towers. Firefighters and police officers rushed to the site to try and save people who were trapped in the buildings. The buildings were very badly damaged though, and before the first responders could help everyone, the buildings collapsed. There was rubble everywhere and nearly 3,000 people were killed.

3 Almost immediately, thousands of volunteers showed up to help, including over 300 Search and Rescue Dogs. The dogs came from all over the country to help out at the World Trade Center pile. There were German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Border Collies, and others. Some of the dogs wore special vests to show that they were working.

4 All of the heroes, both humans and dogs, had to be very brave because they worked very long hours every day trying to find people. The Search and Rescue Dogs were very helpful because of their strong sense of smell. They could squeeze into small places or holes where people could not fit. The dogs were also very good at helping to cheer up the workers by wagging their tails and licking their faces when they were tired and sore from all of the hard work. The tired workers could also pet the dogs to feel better.

Adapted from Choices Intermediate