On a day marked with sorrow for so many, this lovely story has put some big sloppy love back into the date of September 11.
Bretagne, who is the last surviving 9/11 rescue dog has been thrown a sweet 16th birthday party by the city of New York on the 14th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.
The Golden Retriever was just a two-year-old pup, when she worked alongside 300 search and rescue dogs deployed to Ground Zero.
Bretagne was paired with Texas Task Force 1 member Denise Corliss, with whom she worked tirelessly to find and save World Trade Centre victims buried under the rubble at Ground Zero.
Since that day, the pair has worked together on many disaster sites, including Hurricane Katrina. Now retired, the four-legged hero with the droopy ears and chocolate-brown eyes fills her days helping children learn to read at schools and kindys.
But today, the old girl got to party like a 16-year-old. Bretagne and Corliss were flown to NYC and the pair were taken by limo, where the golden retriever was checked into the hotel’s luxe AF ‘doggy suite.’
Next stop was Times Square, where a billboard was erected in honour of Bretagne’s service to her fur-less friends, followed by a good dose of doggy play at the Hudson River Park.
The dog-gone cute party was topped off with cake and gifts including a sterling silver Tiffany & Co tag for her collar and a tonne of doggy treats, with a $1000 donation to Texas Task Force 1 to go towards rescue dog training.
Watch video here: