Chapter 1 Just A Dog excerpt, featuring Debra Tosch & Abbey searching the 9-11 tragedy

9-11-2001, Janet and I walked into the clubhouse at the Shadow Hills Golf Course in Canon City, Colorado. There on television was the first airliner crashing into the twin towers. Shocked would be an understatement, knowing at that very moment our country was being attacked. Being involved in aviation most of my life, this was especially difficult seeing these airliners crashing into giant buildings. I knew the pilots were dead or they would never allow this to happen. Hopefully no one will forget this day where thousands perished, both in the air and on the ground. During the days that followed I watched as the search and rescue efforts began. Seeing the dogs was especially intriguing for me. I researched everything I could find about these handlers and their incredible animals. Later in the spring of 2002 I contacted the Search and Rescue Foundation in Ojai, California. I inquired about their work at the 911 tragedy, and if I could visit them. Janet and I traveled there in May where we spent the day observing the dogs training with two teams in rubble piles of twisted steel, concrete boulders and other search areas.
Debra Tosch provided me an interview after the day’s training was completed. At that time she was the program manager for this organization. Today she is the executive director. The bold print are my questions and comments.
Please tell us about your experience in New York.
I am a part of the LA City Task Force and we went with the San Diego Task Force during the second wave, 10 days after 9-11.
We worked 12 hour shifts, day and night. We began at 4:30 am. We would eat and catch a bus that took us as close to the site as allowed, then we walked 10 blocks to ground zero with all our gear and dogs.
What were you feeling as you made this walk?
First I could smell the smoke as I got closer and closer and then more and more damage. I began to see broken windows in buildings that were still standing and suddenly the search site appeared. TV coverage could not begin to convey the magnitude of destruction. It is impossible to comprehend the indescribable devastation; it was overwhelming to say the least. Immediately I realized there is no training for this type of thing for the dogs. Every type of dangerous and harmful object imaginable was there. We set up a tent and then Abby went to work like it was no big deal, as if it was just a place to play. Abby and I started our search in the pile of debris looking for survivors, body parts, etc. Although Abby’s previous FEMA certification training consisted of things like climbing ladders, crossing a wooden plank eight feet above the ground and searching all types of rubble piles, in New York there was only twisted steel and beams with 20-40 foot drops. Even though it was difficult for me, Abbey negotiated it with ease with her four-wheel-drive.

What about the dogs and their response to bodies that were being found? Interview continues in book.

Chapter 2, Miracle, Tragedy or Coincidence

Sammy Ray
On a warm day in 1988 my owner decided I was too much trouble! I was a cute puppy but now a year old, I guess my new had worn off and was no longer wanted. Along a busy highway in East Texas near the town of Celeste I was dropped off like a garbage bag. I noticed a stop sign nearby so I thought maybe, just maybe my owners would change their mind and return. There I sat watching cars go by for days.

Then a woman came along one day and stopped. She gave me food and water, loved on me and then left. She returned the next day and I suppose she figured out what had happened so she invited me to come live with her. Her farm was just a short distance away. There my life really began because of this angel of compassion and love. I learned in the next year that she would bring numerous animals home that were not wanted.

Roadie the Walker Hound
I couldn’t move! Two of my legs were nearly severed! It was dark and raining and I was cold and covered with oil and grease. I tried to move but couldn’t. I hurt real bad and then I heard it coming, an awful noise like thunder, the ground a shaking and the rails vibrating! Then it was over top me, this train with the loud engine dripping hot oil and grease all over me. My legs hurt somethin’ terrible! Finally it was gone and it was dark and quiet. I wanted out of here, I tried my best to get up but couldn’t, my legs just wouldn’t work no more. There was lots of blood. It was raining and I got real cold and tried to sleep but the pain was too bad. I was lonely and scared.

No telling how long I laid there a hurtin and then that sound again, in the distance I could hear it coming. I tried to move but couldn’t and then it was on top of me again, another train dripping more hot oil and grime and dirt into my wounds. This went on for days, every hour; I think I counted 50 of them loud, noisy, dirty trains!
My front left leg and my right back leg wouldn’t work at all so I was stuck. I was a real mess with blood a leaking from my injuries. It was so bad I couldn’t even lick my wounds to help ease the pain. Roadies miraculous story continues in book


Where there is great love
there are always Miracles
Willa Cather

Chapter 5, The Wonderful World of Cats and Birds

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.
Jean Cocteau


We were born out of wedlock during the spring of 2000. Our mom was a bit careless and began running with the wrong crowd. Next thing you know she got pregnant and here we are, my brother and I. No one wanted us so we got dumped at this shelter. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place, they fed us well and gave us a warm cage to sleep in. However, it’s not like a home. The worst part is the crowd, there are just too many of us in one place. My brother and I had to entertain each other as we didn’t get much attention. Lots of people came in and looked around, sometimes they stopped by our small cage and said, “Aren’t they cute”. Then they’d walk on and leave us. My brother and I were getting worried cause they only keep you here for so many days then they take you to “the room”. Once you go to the room, you never come back. They call it euthanasia.

Bunny, she is solid white with long silky hair, one blue eye and one green eye. That should have told us she was a little weird, those strange eyes. She camps out in Mrs. Janet’s bedroom and you best not go wandering in there. This cat can spit like a camel and if you’re too close you will get your face washed! Territorial is too nice a word for this white ball of fur!

There are no ordinary cats.
Colette

Chapter 6, Our Equine Angels

And God took a handful of southerly wind,

blew his breath over it and created the horse.

Bedouin Legend

Hippocrates was the first to describe the benefits of the horse for rehabilitation purposes, calling horseback riding a universal exercise. In the time following Hippocrates, medical professionals in Germany, Italy, Austria, and England, and eventually the United States, used horses in the rehabilitation of people with disabilities of many different types..

Many children with disabilities have spent a lot of time hospitalized, sometimes tethered to machines.Many of them come to dislike their therapist, at least in a traditional setting.“Put kids on a horse, though, and they light up,” says Ellen In, a physical therapist at EquiTherapy.

Since my brother began riding a few years ago, he has better motor control, vocalizes more often, and always has a huge grin when he gets on the back of a horse. He now participates in the equestrian events for the Special Olympics, and each week you can see his smile when the riding helmet comes out, and the car ride to the horses begins.

Time spent in the saddle is never wasted

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