Man's best friend & the Canine Heroes of 9/11

People can normally be summed up as either a dog person or a cat person. I have very much always been a dog person. My favorite dogs have always been Labradors and working dogs in general - this is probably thanks to my Dad who coming from Ireland had many working dogs including a lovely black Labrador called Ceaser whom he left in Ireland .I can't remember what I did yesterday most of the time but I can remember that dog.  I can also remember my big strong Dad breaking down in tears one evening when my Cousin had passed news on that Ceaser had died, that was the bond between man and his dog.

There is a point to this post (I promise) -this week has been the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 and I wanted to write about where I was and how I felt when this happened .. and I probably will later this weekend but after reading and watching so much about 9/11 this week, I remembered reading some stories a couple of years ago about dogs and their part to play in the aftermath of 9/11. 

Just in New York there were nearly 350 Search and Rescue (SAR) Dogs deployed to help aid the search rescue operation at Ground Zero.This included 80 dogs that were sent from FEMA These dogs were  to remain there for days, helping firemen, police, FEMA staff  and in some cases brave owners that had volunteered to help,to find anybody still alive in the "Stack" These are called Live Find Dogs .. the dogs would work with their Humans 16 hours a day, crawling through every space possible to try and find survivors, digging and sniffing their way round. 

As the dogs found less and less survivors they became remarkably depressed and disheartened when they found no survivors. The fireman took to hiding in rubble so that the dogs could find them and feel motivated to then carry on and look for more survivors. 

Later dogs were brought in to provide emotional support to rescue workers - these dogs are trained to identify trauma and people feeling depressed and stressed 

I read a lot about this on this website which contains quotes and other information about the dogs and people involved.  

I also found out that a book has been written called "Retrieved " this book is about the story of some of the remaining dogs that are still alive and the stories behind their rescue attempts at 9/11 - Dutch Photographer Charlotte Dumas travelled across America to capture these brave dogs in their twilight years - this picture is one of my favorites - 

Moxie is now 13 and arrived at Ground Zero on the evening of 9/11 and searched with her handler for 8 days - she just looks brave and proud. She is now retired and living with her handler 

Finally I read this story which is even more amazing.  Omar Eduardo Rivera is and found himself on the 71st Floor of one of the towers, when it was stuck that day. His guide dog Dorado led him out of the tower 71 Floors down slowly nudging and encouraging him by nudging his legs, so he did't loose his way. Omar even states that he let him off his lead as to give him a chance to get out, but Dorado faithfully stayed by his owners side until he was out of the tower safe. Moments later the tower collapsed : the full story can be found here 

And so that's my blog for this evening - I know I have used lots of pictures as well as words, but as I have said before images sum up a lot about a moment in time. The pictures I have used this evening have done just that. I could write stories all evening about these brave dogs and indeed the stories I have read and seen on TV this week about the brave humans involved, but for now I will leave it there. I think it's time to go and play "fetch" with Duncan. Who has changes would have it has brave parents as him mum and dad are police dogs! As for these stories this evening, I am sure even the most ardent cat person would have to admit on this occasion these dogs deserve the title "Man's best friend"

The best little Spaniard I knew

I am not a fan of transfer deadline day.By now you will know I am about as Blue as they get and being an Evertonian is what I can only describe as "Character Building"  - it is certainly not the easy option but hey as Lady Gaga sings "I was born that way" and a blue I will stay. Getting back to the point, I don't like transfer deadline day and  Everton are totally skint  : therefore I didn't expect any nice surprises for any signings - if anything I thought we would get a loan deal at the most. I had heard about Yakubu and Beckford probably going early in the day but that was it. I was out that night at a craft workshop in Leaf in Liverpool  happily making leather cuffs with my younger sister - (funny enough I took up crafts as a form of stress relief) . Anyway there was I all happy to be picked up by Ped, who informed me Arsenal had put an offer in for Arteta.. but it was off and then on the way home I heard it was back on. Boom!! I wasn't expecting that - he was one of my favorite players (at the moment they are Cahill, Arteta and Coleman) and I really hoped he wouldn't go. There was an image of him arriving at the Park End in his car and my heart sank, he was going I was sure, but I just hoped he wouldn't. Finally after much excitement from Sky News pundits, it was announced he had gone. I am not ashamed to say that I cried and I don't care what anybody thinks of me, I wear my heart on my sleeve with a lot of things, but I bloody love Everton and those players that give me something to smile about share a special place in my heart, so for one of my favorites to go,so quickly and without warning was a shock to the system.
The next day I moped about quite a bit (not as much as when we sold Rooney though, that went on for a good few days) and I was moaning in work to anybody who wanted to listen how fed up I was and how we had sold a good player and we cant afford to do that. I also moaned about how when me and Ped went to the players lounge as a wedding gift I refused to have my picture took with him because I felt too ugly next to him. Then last night in bed I remembered, I had! At the end of the season my little nephew and Ped were waiting in the car park to get autographs and when I turned up Artera was on his way to his car - this photo is awful and I look dreadful on it, Ped's phone had a weird floaty bit of plastic that is over Mikel's face but I am glad he took it

It's now Friday and I am feeling a bit better, I can understand what a lot of other blues are saying about him not being the same player the past few years etc but at the end of the day, I get attached and so I am gutted. 

My best memory of Arteta will be for a goal he scored against Florintina at Goodision in 2008 : I literally felt like I  held my breath from when his boot touched the ball, only to exhale as it landed in the Street End goal. It is moments like that, which sum up what being a blue is about. It was this goal I thought about on Wednesday at 11:00pm 

Thanks Mikel, you really were the best little Spaniard I knew