Jake was a well-known American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 black labrador who served as a search and rescue dog

Search and rescue dog

The use of dogs in search and rescue is a valuable component in wilderness tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and in locating missing people. Dedicated handlers and well-trained dogs are required for the use of dogs to be effective in search efforts...

 following the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

. Jake served as a rescue dog from 1997 until his retirement because of cancer in 2006.

Early life

Jake was adopted

Pet adoption

Pet adoption usually refers to the process of taking guardianship of and responsibility for a pet that a previous owner has abandoned or released to a shelter or rescue organization...

 when he was 10 months old by his owner, Mary Flood.
Jake had been found abandoned on the streets with several injuries, including a dislocated hip and a broken leg.

Career

Jake's new owner, Mary Flood, is a member of Utah Task Force 1. Utah Task Force 1

Utah Task Force 1

Utah Task Force 1 - Salt Lake Urban Search & Rescue is one of 28 federal Department of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces in the United States. The task force is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is managed by the Unified Fire Authority and...

 is a federal search and rescue

Search and rescue

Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

 team trained to respond to disasters. Following his recovery from his injuries, Flood helped to train Jake to become a federal "U.S. government certified" rescue dog

Search and rescue dog

The use of dogs in search and rescue is a valuable component in wilderness tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and in locating missing people. Dedicated handlers and well-trained dogs are required for the use of dogs to be effective in search efforts...

. There are fewer than 200 of these dogs, who are trained to respond within 24 hours to disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, wilderness

Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

, water rescue, terrorist attacks, or avalanches. Jake's owner later commented, "...against all odds he became a world-class rescue dog."

Jake was most noted for his work following the September 11 attacks, where he helped search for human remains at Ground Zero

Ground zero

The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...

. Jake, like other rescue workers and dogs, was honored by New Yorkers as a hero. Jake, wearing his search and rescue vest, was treated to a free steak dinner at an upscale Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 restaurant on the evening he arrived to work in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Jake served as a rescue dog at the World Trade Center site

World Trade Center site

The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...

 for 17 days. Like the humans and other rescue dogs he worked with, Jake was exposed to the physical hazards of Ground Zero, including sharp debris and suspected unhealthy air.

Jake also served in his search and rescue team following Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 in 2005. Jake, along with his Utah Task Force, drove over 30 hours from Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 to Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 to help search for survivors and victims of following the hurricane's landfall. Jake was also deployed to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Rita

Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...

.

In his later years, Jake helped to train younger prospective rescue dogs, as well as their handlers. Jake helped other dogs to learn to track scents in difficult places and terrain, including under the snow and even up trees. Jake also worked as a therapy dog

Therapy dog

A therapy dog is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, people with learning difficulties, and stressful situations, such as disaster areas....

 at Utah nursing homes and at a camp for burn victims.

Death and legacy

Jake had been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma

Hemangiosarcoma

Hemangiosarcoma is a rare, rapidly growing, highly invasive variety of cancer. It is a sarcoma arising from the lining of blood vessels; that is, blood-filled channels and spaces are commonly observed microscopically...

, a blood borne cancer. He was euthanized on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, after he was found on his front lawn

Lawn

A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which usually are maintained at a low and consistent height. Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn...

 shaking from a 105 degree fever

Fever

Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...

. His owner reportedly took him for one last walk through the fields and creeks of Oakley, Utah

Oakley, Utah

Oakley is a city in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 948 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Oakley is located at ....

, before his death. Jake was 12 years old when he died.

It is unknown whether Jake's cancer can be linked to his rescue work at Ground Zero

Ground zero

The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...

. Cancer is a very common disease

Disease

A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...

 for dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

s around Jake's age. Some rescue dog owners have claimed that their dogs have died because of their exposure to the air at the World Trade Center site

World Trade Center site

The World Trade Center site , also known as "Ground Zero" after the September 11 attacks, sits on in Lower Manhattan in New York City...

 in the aftermath of 9/11. However, scientists who have studied the health of rescue animals who worked Ground Zero have found no major signs of illness. In contrast, a recent study of 20,000 human rescue workers, such as firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

s, has found that 70% of these workers suffer from respiratory illnesses.

Cynthia Otto, who works for the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

's School of Veterinary Medicine, is currently conducting a study of the health of September 11 rescue dogs. The results of Jake's necropsy will be used as part of the Penn medical study.

It is believed that illnesses diagnosed in Jake and other rescue animals may serve as harbinger

Harbinger

-Places:* Montes Harbinger, lunar mountains* Harbinger, an unincorporated community in Currituck County, North Carolina-Transportation:* Harbinger , ship also called Norfolk in 1797* Harbinger , thoroughbred racehorse...

s for possible long term problems in 9/11 rescue workers, both human and animal.