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Dog That Worked at Ground Zero Has Best 16th Birthday Ever

By Nicole Levy | September 11, 2015 7:18am
 Bretagne, the 16-year-old golden retriever starring in
Bretagne, the 16-year-old golden retriever starring in "Bretagne's Best Day," was one of nearly 100 dogs deployed to the site of the World Trade Center after terrorist attacks razed the Twin Towers on September 11.
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BarkBox

There aren't enough heart-warming videos on the Internet to make the anniversary of 9/11 any less of a solemn day for New Yorkers.

But this video of the birthday festivities organized for a dog that worked in search and rescue at Ground Zero — allegedly the last one still living — certainly makes a valiant effort.

Bretagne, the 16-year-old golden retriever starring in "Bretagne's Best Day," was one of nearly 100 dogs deployed to the site of the World Trade Center after terrorist attacks razed the Twin Towers on Sept. 11. As members of Texas Task Force 1 (one of the 28 federal teams belonging to FEMA's national urban search and rescue program,) the dog and her handler, Denise Corliss, searched for and saved survivors trapped in the buildings' rubble.

"When our task force arrived at Ground Zero, I just couldn't believe the magnitude of it," Corliss says in the video. "And then I looked down at her, and she seemed stoked and ready to work. ... I was just so grateful to have a canine partner to help me get through it."

In honor of Bretagne's service and heroism, the monthly pet-product subscription service BarkBox and the 1 Hotels chain flew her, Corliss and Corliss' husband to New York City, where they threw the most elaborate birthday celebration a dog has ever seen. We're talking about a hotel suite with treats and a doggy bed, a gourmet burger for lunch, a Times Square billboard welcoming her to the city, a bone-shaped medallion from Tiffany's and an entire heap of doggy toys.

Bretagne and Corliss also earned a dedicated cobblestone in the plaza of the 9/11 Memorial and $1,000 for their task force.