Article written by Sandy Britt

The catastrophic and horrifying events of September 11 shocked the world and changed the lives of Americans forever. For veterinarian Rita Tinsley of the Stewart County Animal Clinic in Dover, the day brought a call to duty-a call asking her to put into action what she’s trained a decade to do: use specially trained dogs in the search, rescue and recovery of people lost through accidents and disasters. Though Tinsley spends her days tending to family pets at her clinic and assisting the Humane Society of Dover-Stewart County, she’s also the captain and founder of the Stewart County K-9 Unit, and all-volunteer nonprofit organization that uses dogs for search and rescue missions.

September 11
Tinsley first heard about the terrorist attacks when a member of her K-9 team called September 11. He told her to turn on her TV and immediately asked if their team would go. “I had no idea at that point what was going on,” says Tinsley. “When I turned on the TV, I felt like so many others did, that I was watching a movie. It wasn’t real. Gradually the reality and the horror sunk in as I sat mesmerized, watching.” Tinsley and her 10-year-old black Labrador search dog, Bella, along with other unit members of the Barren River Area Search Dog Association of Bowling Green, Ky, geared up to assist with rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center. The New York City Police Department Incident command had requested the group’s assistance on September 17, asking them to send five cadaver detection dogs, handlers and seven support personnel. The team flew to New York on September 20 and began work on September 21. “We had a team of 12 people and five dogs,” says Tinsley. “Dog handlers included myself as team bet, a physicians assistant from Paducah, a paramedic from Franklin, Ky., a nurse from Vanderbilt and a school bus driver from Bowling Green.” Tinsley says she was initially apprehensive about going to the scene of the attacks and had “nightmare visions” of working at Ground Zero. “My son, Joe Simmons, didn’t want me to go. He feared secondary attacks. About 24 hours later, I was called with mission details. We’d be working at the Fresh Kills Landfill site on Staten Island where tons of debris from the World Trade Center were being trucked. I explained to my son that I’d trained for this for 10 years and that I had to go,” says Tinsley. The days before departure were filled with frantic packing of search gear and veterinary supplies. Since conditions at the site were unknown, searchers packed for any conceivable circumstance. “Vet supplies included everything from eye ointments and bandages to surgery packs and IV fluids. Our team carried 1000 pounds of gear,” says Tinsley. On the day of departure, Tinsley and Bella awoke at 2 a.m. to prepare for a 6 a.m. departure from the airport in Bowling Green, KY., as fog prevented flying out of Nashville. Tinsley’s K-9 group teamed up the Angel Flight Private Volunteer Pilots. “We were flown to Newark, N.J., in volunteered private prop jets,” says Tinsley. “Each plane carried one dog, one handler and one support person.”

Arrival in New York
A bus escorted by state police transported the group to the city. Bridges and highways were shut down to routine traffic, with police cars blocking side streets ahead of the bus caravans as they headed for Homeport Naval Base on Staten Island. Upon arrival at the center where volunteers were housed, searchers received food, hard hats, dog supplies, rain gear, respirators, clothing and other specialized rescue equipment. “One teammate who’d been there 24 hours said to be careful what you asked for because you’d get a hundred,” says Tinsley of the generosity they received. A New York Fire Department chaplain arranged for the group to move to move to a troop transport ship, the USS Denebola, positioned in New York Harbor so they’d have roomier accommodations. The National Guard transported the group and their gear to the ship. “I was told I was needed at the landfill immediately, so Bella and I along with Nurse Tracy Noble and her German Shepherd, Sky, were loaded onto an Army truck and taken to the landfill in the rain,” says Tinsley. Security was extremely tight, with numerous checkpoints and photo identification mandatory. Tents for the FBI, NYPD, rescuers, forensics teams and support personnel dotted the hellish landscape. Tinsley’s group worked along side more than 200 investigators, forensics teams and dental experts. Within three days, concrete floors for the food tent, a chaplain’s tent and Red Cross tent were added. The K-9 area sported tarp walls, drink coolers, microwaves, food, donated K-9 items, tables and cots. Rescue International provided decontamination baths for workers; Tinsley had packed the drug Chlorhexaderm to decontaminate their dogs. When working, searchers donned protective Tyvek suits covered with yellow rain suits, helmets, double gloves and respirators. Dogs’ paws were securely bandaged with layers of vetwrap to protect their delicate pads from the jagged, dangerous terrain. “We wore double boots which made our feet heavy and hard to move well. Methane gas was bubbling up out of the ground everywhere. We found the heavy respirators didn’t work well because you couldn’t communicate verbally with your dog. After checking with the EPA, we switched to paper respirators that we could talk through,” says Tinsley of the challenges searchers face daily.

Day One
Tinsley and Bella worked in the rain until 9 p.m. the first night searching grids in the rubble-filled landfill. “At night the scene resembled the movie Close Encounters. We went from circle to circles of hell. I prayed God would give me stamina to keep going. Bella had been very successful; in addition to human remains, we looked for guns, knives, memory computer components and airplane black boxes,” says Tinsley. The rain was hard on the dogs as well as the search teams. Bella became chilled the first night and no dry area was available for down time. “There was a K9 command post tent, but water was running through it. We requested a pallet from the National Guard and they brought us two. We asked for blankets or tarps and they brought us two brand new silk comforters for the dogs out of donated items. We made a platform for the dogs in the tent and set it up so that all dogs could use it. Once warmed, Bella was okay. The Army gave us decontamination wipes to clean off with before we left, so I started wiping Bella with those. A soldier saw what I was doing and gave me a case of wipes to take back to the ship. In the following days, we had to cope with extreme heat and wet the dogs to cool them down,” says Tinsley. A jeep transport picked up the searchers at 10 p.m. and got them back to the ship by 11p.m. “We had to go up a long gangplank, check in with security, go through a hatch, up a long ramp made for tanks, down the length of the ship, up steep steps, through another hatch and into our quarters behind the bow,” says Tinsley. “We could go out on deck for air, as could the dogs. Any sheets or towels we used were thrown away as biohazard. To take dogs out to a grassy area from our quarters down a long concrete dock was a half-mile walk. I lost 8 pounds while I was there and it never came back.”

Searching Through the Rubble
Tinsley’s group was switched to second shift the following day, then rotated between first and second shift during their four-day mission. Three shifts worked around the clock with 3-hour breaks to allow the heavy equipment to be serviced. “We were working in a continuous roar of machinery-sifters, caterpillars, bulldozers and backhoes. Large bulldozers were flying past us within 4 feet of the dogs. I had to fun three times from dozers. Fatigue was setting in on the operators. We worked searching for four days. By the time the handlers adapted to the scene, the dogs were exhausted,” says Tinsley. Before the group left New York, NYPD boats took them to Ground Zero, where fire department chaplain gave them a tour of the haunting disaster site from every angle. “After seeing the destruction up close, I could comprehend the material loss, but your mind refuses to comprehend the loss of life even when standing there,” says Tinsley. “One piece of steel fell from a crane and landed next to a welder cutting through beams while we watched. It triggered a collapse in front of us, but both welders walked away unhurt. One welder’s hands had to be pried off the torch. I don’t think the public realized how many risks people there took trying to locate victims. Emergency personnel are trained to deal with bad situations, but not the construction workers, welders and iron workers, and it showed on their faces.” Tinsley says her rescue group felt privileged to have skills that were useful after such a horrendous disaster. “Many people were frustrated because they wanted to help but didn’t know what to do. A fire department chaplain met a woman on a subway who was suicidal because she felt useless. But everyone can help-pray for responders for contribute to rescue organizations in your community. Volunteer rescue squads and fire departments need the help. Make a contribution to help your own area be ready to help you.”

K-9 Unit of Stewart County
The K-9 Unit assists local, state and federal agencies with searches for missing persons in wilderness areas, on land, in water or in collapsed structures. Search and rescue dogs can help find victims such as lost children; elderly persons or Alzheimer’s patients who’ve wandered away from homes or hospitals; lost hikers and hunters; victims of avalanches, earthquakes, floods, explosions, bombs, fires, airplane crashes, tornadoes or other disasters. The unit doesn’t conduct criminal searches or felony apprehensions, but will assist with evidence searches and recovery operations, including homicide victims. At their own discretion, police officers who are members of the K-9 Unit may participate in felony searches. The K-9 unit is organized as a department of the Stewart County Volunteer Fire Services. As an all-volunteer group, members are responsible for all expenses and aren’t paid for services to the community. Their reward comes solely from training and working with the dogs and assisting those in need. The group receives no official funding and relies on donations for needed emergency equipment and training. The K-9 Unit was founded in 1993 and has participated in search and rescue operations throughout Tennessee and Kentucky. The group works closely with local rescue squads and sheriff departments, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, state police, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the Kentucky Department of Emergency Management, the FBI and the U.S. Army.

Everyday Rescues
On July 18, 2002, the K-9 unit was called to respond to a rescue effort similar to many others in which they’ve participated over the years. At 3: 30 a.m., Tinsley received a call from the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department. An 84-year-old Alzheimer’s patient was missing. Tinsley and her black Labrador, Raven, along with Michael Toombs and his golden retriever, Luke, responded. At 5 a.m., they arrived where the patient was last seen. Searchers at the scene thought the man had gone through a gate and wandered down a wooded hill covered with kudzu vines. “Raven was scented from the man’s slippers by the door,” says Tinsley. “She went to the open gate and headed toward the back of the property. She led searchers to the back of the property into an old junk yard area, near a lagoon that’s no longer used.” The incident commander in charge of the rescue effort asked Tinsley where he should send a helicopter to look for the missing man. She told him to check the field behind the property where Raven had gone. “There was a delay before the helicopter came, so searchers known as ‘ground pounders’ set out on foot to check the field,” says Tinsley. “Around 8 a.m., they found a bare footprint and radioed for us to come. When we were three quarters of the way across the field, Mike’s dog, Luke, took off at a run toward the right corner of the field. Looking ahead of Luke, a police officer spotted the missing man.” Tinsley says the dogs were excited to find the patient, who was scratched and bruised, but alive. “It was a very happy ending. The man had been found before the dangerous heat arrived later in the day. The important part of a search is the teamwork of all searchers involved and this one worked out perfectly.”

Professional Standards
Though made up entirely of volunteers, the K-9 Unit of Stewart Count holds to high professional standards and a serious level of dedication and commitment. Training and response occurs in all seasons under any conditions. Handlers pursue training and certification in emergency response techniques. Each dog is trained to develop obedience, agility and search technique skills. It takes a minimum of two years of training before a dog and handler are considered fully qualified for a search and rescue operation. Training doesn’t stop with certification; it’s a constant regiment of learning and practice, even for experienced handlers and dogs. Just how extensive training can be was evident during annual water-rescue training held recently at Land Between the Lakes. Participants from several Tennessee and Kentucky counties included search dogs and handlers, rescue squads, boat operators, dive teams, EMS teams and emergency managers. Search dogs practice land and water searches by sniffing out human scent spread around the training area in vials. According to Tinsley, tissue from amputated limbs or cadavers was once used for training. “Now we use human placenta because tissue from amputated limbs or cadavers had the potential risk of disease.” Water-rescue training also includes diving exercises, underwater diver recognition and cadaver searches on shore, around docks and in both shallow and deep water. For deep-water search exercised, dogs are taken out in boats to scent located 20 to 30 feet below the surface. A submerged body constantly emits oils and gases that float to the surface. A dog will locate where the scents are surfacing and divers can then locate the body. Participants also watch training videos for a refresher on the methods, techniques and theory behind the use of boats and wave runners.

Training Search and Rescue Dogs
All humans, dead or alive, constantly emit microscopic particles of human scent. These particles become airborne and are carried great distances. Search and rescue dogs are trained to find the scent of any human in a specific search area. Trained dogs can continue a search long after the human’s track has been wiped out. Dog and handler report to the search operations leader, who reports to the search boss, also known as the incident commander. Many K-9 units provide their own base camp with trained radio operators and other support personnel. Normally, each team is assigned a specific segment of the search area to cover. Dogs are worked downwind of their assigned section to provide them with the best scenting coverage. Handlers map the area they’ve covered and report their probability of detection to the operations leader. Search dogs can find the specific scent of a missing person even in heavily populated areas. The dogs are especially effective in conditions where the vision of their handlers is hampered: in the dark, in densely wooded areas, under water or beneath heavy debris.

Professional Requirements for Search Dogs 
Dog handlers must like being in the outdoors in all kinds of weather and enjoy working with dogs. They must be fit and able to respond to emergencies at any time. Handlers must also be proficient in navigation, map and compass reading, ratio communications, survival techniques and first aid. Dogs must show trainability, agility, endurance and the ability to get along will with other dogs and people. A search dog is part of his handler’s family and enjoys the company of humans. Rescue dogs normally come from the larger breeds of the working and sporting groups and include German shepherds, Dobermans, rottweillers, golden retrievers, giant schnauzers, Labradors as well as larger sized mixed breeds. Most handlers begin search and rescue work with a young puppy, but older dogs are suitable if they have a good working relationship with their owner. K-9 units evaluate a team before sending them on actual searches. Dog teams on actual searches normally work for 4 to 6 hours, with a few hours of rest in between, but will work longer if needed depending upon the weather and site conditions.

Tinsley and Bella Today
Bella worked her heart out for years, and after returning from her toughest job in New York, underwent knee surgery. Bella is now enjoying a leisurely and well-deserved retirement. Bella’s long years of distinguished service resulted in her being named the Outstanding Professional Dog of the Year by the Tennessee Veterinary Medical Association. She was also inducted into the Tennessee Animal Hall of Fame. Bella’s service has been recognized by kennel Club and the Department of the Army, to name just a few. She’s been credited with more than a dozen finds of drowning victims in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as with aiding law enforcement in locating evidence in several murder cases. During her time in New York searching through WTC debris, concrete, mud and dangerous sharp objects, Bella gad an accuracy rate of five out of every six finds.
Though Tinsley has trained for over 10 years in search and rescue, she says she feels she still needs to learn more. “I’ve been on more than 75 searches in 20 counties of Tennessee and Kentucky. It was my work and training done here at home that enabled me to be ready to respond to the terrorist act in New York,” says Tinsley. “Most of the time my partner Bella was with me, the best dog I’ve ever had. She’s now 10 years old, and I was so grateful that we received the call to New York while she was still able to work. She’s now retired and staying in the air conditioning. When I get ready to train or search, she knows it and gets excited. At first she was very frustrated and upset when she got left behind. But after the heat of the summer, she learned to say ‘You go ahead. I’ll wait for you here.’” Tinsley now works with a young female black lab named Raven and has recently adopted another black lab puppy from the Dover Humane Society that was brought to her clinic for treatment. “She’s very smart, energetic, and vocal, which makes for a good bark alert. She was born last September, and is named Liberty,” says Tinsley. Did Tinsley’s experience in New York change her life? “No, but September 11 was the moment that changed my perspective. Our security was breached and life will never be the same. The threat from terrorists isn’t far away anymore. War is here now. Some think rural Tennessee is out of the way and safe. But we have Fort Campbell next door and a power plant, not to mention Kentucky dam above us.” On the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Americans should remember and honor not only the victims, but also the thousands of volunteers who heeded the call to duty in the aftermath of that infamous day, including the scores of rescue dogs that converged on the grizzly scene.Let’s also remember and honor the canine heroes that work for us everyday: dogs that assist the blind and disabled, provide therapy for shutins, work with our police officers and airline personnel finding drugs and explosives, find missing persons, work our farms, protect our homes and provide us with unconditional love and companionship day in and day out.