For two weeks they scouted among the shattered remains of the
Pentagon's west side. While other rescuers wore masks to filter out the
dust and toxic fumes that filled the air after the attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, Bailey and Riley inhaled it all, relying on their keen canine noses
to find victims beneath the tons of charred rubble.
It is because they were exposed to dangerous toxins that the two golden
retrievers yesterday became the newest participants in a comprehensive
study to determine whether rescue dogs develop cancer at a higher rate
than normal.
The five-year project -- which is focused on the nose, an area likely
to show early signs of cancerous development -- uses magnetic resonance
imaging, or MRI, to take detailed scans in search of tumors. The research
is being conducted by the Iams Pet Imaging Center in Vienna, in
conjunction with a separate study by the American Kennel Club Canine
Health Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania.
Statistics show that dogs most often used for rescue work -- those with
long muzzles, such as hounds and shepherds -- are most likely to contract
nasal cancer. But researchers have been unable to make a scientific link
with the work these dogs do in toxic environments.
When the study is done, researchers expect to have their first clear
picture of the health risks associated with such disaster sites as the
Pentagon and the World Trade Center, where rescue dogs inhaled asbestos
particles and the fumes of burning jet fuel. That data, experts say, could
have broad implications.
"What we find in the dogs may tell us what the risk is to humans as
well," said Dan Carey, a veterinarian with Iams Research & Development
in Dayton, Ohio, which studies the health effects of nutrition in dogs and
cats.
Bailey and Riley are two of a dozen dogs participating in the study at
the Iams center. About half of the dogs were used at the Pentagon after
the terrorist attacks, and the others were at the World Trade Center site
in lower Manhattan.
"With the high exposure to toxins at the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center, it was a good time to investigate," said Julie A. Smith, medical
director and chief of anesthesia at the pet imaging center. "All the dust
and asbestos and jet fuel -- you can't replicate that in a study."
As part of the research, each dog will undergo a $1,200 MRI every year
for the next five years at no charge to its owner.
It was the first procedure of its kind for Bailey, 5, and Riley, 6. The
dogs took turns getting intravenous sedation, a breathing tube, a heart
monitor and a pink towel covering before undergoing the half-hour
scan.
Their owner, Eileen Roemer, stood watch, peering through a window into
the exam room as each of her dogs lay inside the MRI chamber, invisibly
probed with magnetic energy and radio waves.
Bailey went first and emerged from the MRI in a deep sleep, his tongue
lolling out of his mouth and onto the exam table. Roemer coaxed the dog
awake by whispering into his big floppy ears and massaging his coat.
"Who's a good boy?" she cooed.
Roemer was working with the FBI's child abductions unit six years ago
when she became intrigued by dog search and rescue and began training
Riley. Bailey followed a few years later and made his first discovery of a
victim at the Pentagon.
"Every day, they found human remains," Roemer said as she watched Riley
sleep inside the humming MRI machine. "They found things we would have
never realized were human remains."
After examining the scans, Carey gave both dogs clean bills of health:
So far, so good. They'll return in a year for the next round of MRIs.
"If we never look for another dead person, working at the Pentagon for
those weeks would make all the training worthwhile," Roemer said. "I'm
proud of them. Hopefully, nothing negative [ill health] will come of
it."