Trakr
Trackr was a German Shepherd dog who along with his handler, Canadian police officer James Symington, discovered the last survivor of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001. In 2008 Symington won an essay contest sponsored by BioArts International to find the the world's most "cloneworthy dog",[1] as a result of which Trackr was cloned and produced five puppies.[2]
Background
Symington was one of the founders of the canine unit for the Halifax Regional Police, on which served for 13 years.[3] His police dog, Trakr, was trained in the Czech Republic and joined the Halifax Regional Police in 1995 at age 14 months.[4] Tracker worked for the department for six years, finding over $1 million in contraband, as well as finding missing people and helping in arresting hundreds of criminals.[4] He was retired from the force in May, 2001.[4]
After Trackr's retirement, Symington took a medical leave from the force, claiming a hurt elbow as well as Occupational stress over plans the department was considering to euthanize Trackr and other retiring K9 dogs.[5]
9/11 Search and Rescue
Symington and his dog saw the search and rescue operations in New York City on television on September 11, 2001, and drove with their friend, Corporal Joe Hall, for 15 hours from Prospect Bay, Nova Scotia to Manhattan to help out, arriving the morning of September 12.[6][4] Trackr found a "live hit" (signs of life) under the rubble at approximately 6am or 7am.[7] Firefighters dug in the spot, and found Genelle Guzman, the last of the 20 survivors who had been inside the buildings when they collapsed. Guzman, an assistant with the Port Authority of New York, had climbed from the 64th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center and was on the 13th floor of the South Tower when it fell.[8] She was trapped for approximately 26 hours before her rescue.[7]
On September 14, Trackr collapsed from smoke inhalation, chemical inhalation, burns, and exhaustion, and was treated with intravenous fluids. After Tracker was released the next day, Symington, Hall, and Tracker returned home to Canada.[9]
Officials from the Halifax police saw Symington on television, and suspended him with pay from the force for taking unwarranted leave. He was later fired, and sued the police force over the incident. The lawsuit was still pending as of 2008.[10] In 2005 Symington and Trackr were awarded an "Extraordinary Service to Humanity Award" for their efforts,[11] and widely considered "heroes".[12]
Later years
After leaving the force, Symington and Trackr moved to the Los Angeles, California area, where Symington took up acting,[10] Symington appeared, often under the name Peter James, in a number of television soap operas including Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The L Word, and The Young and the Restless, as well as working as a stunt double, fight coordinator, and small part film actor.[13]
In his later years, Trackr suffered from degenerative myelopathy, a neurological disease, and lost use of his hind legs.[14] Some experts attributed the condition to inhaling smoke at the World Trade Center site.[6] Symington took Trackr to Pawspice, a California end-of-life organization that serves as the equivalent of a hospice for pets. Pawspice outfitted Trackr with a cart so that he could power himself with his front legs.[14] Trackr died in April, 2009, at age 16.[6]
BioArts Contest
In June, 2008, Symington entered "Best Friends Again" (also called the Golden Clone Giveaway), an essay contest sponsored by BioArts International, to find the world's most "clone-worthy" dog.[15] Symington's essay was chosen out of a field of 200 others, impressing the company CEO with the story of Trackr's police dog abilities and the World Trade Center rescue.[7]
BioArts partnered with South Korean veterinarian Hwang Woo-Suk and his laboratory, Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, which had performed the Missyplicity project in 2002[6] and claims to have performed the first-ever dog cloning in 2006.[7] In June, 2009 five clone puppies, Trustt, Solace, Valor, Prodigy, and Deja Vu, were all delivered to Symington.[16] At the time, BioArts was selling cloning services privately for $144,000 per puppy.[7]
Some animal welfare groups, including the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, criticized or questioned the cloning effort over concerns that cloned animals may suffer health problems.[16]
References
- ^ Owen Moritz (2008-06-30). New York Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/06/30/2008-06-30_wtc_hero_police_dog_to_be_cloned.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Lindsay Barnett (2009-06-17). "German shepherd puppies, cloned from hero 9/11 search and rescue dog, come to L.A." Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Suspended Halifax cop considers suing force". CTVNews. 2001-10-02.
- ^ a b c d "K-9 Rescue Team Finds World Trade Center Survivor, Then Gets Suspended for It". Dogs in the News. 2001-10-02.
- ^ "Maple Leave". Snopes.com.
- ^ a b c d "9/11 search dog cloned for former Canadian cop". Associated Press. 2009-06-17.
- ^ a b c d e Ed Pilkington (2009-06-18). "Dog hailed as hero cloned by California company". The Guardian.
- ^ John Cloud (2002-09-01). "A Miracle's Cost". Time Magazine.
- ^ "Dog that won cloning contest passes away". oh mi dog. 2009-05-04.
- ^ a b "Cloning may give Halifax canine hero new lease on life". Canwest News service. 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Halifax ex-cop gets 9/11 award for actions that led to his suspension". CBC. 2005-09-20.
- ^ "9/11 hero dog has been cloned". The Sun.
- ^ "Peter James". IMDB.
- ^ a b "Sick pets, life and death choices". CNN.
- ^ Claire Bates (2009-06-18). "Puppy power: Heroic 9/11 rescue dog is cloned five times after winning competition". Daily Mail.
- ^ a b Sarah Netter (2008-06-18). "Cloned Puppies: A New Generation of 'Trakrs':Puppies Cloned From 9/11 Search and Rescue Dog After Handler Wins Essay Contest". ABC News.