Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Announcing the National Fire Dog Monument

The winning design features a firefighter looking upon his detection dog, who is ready for duty

The non-profit organisation National Fire Dog Monument has been successful in its fundraising to build a monument to Certified Accelerant Detection Dogs.  The bronze statue is entitled “From Ashes to Answers” and will be permanently displayed in front of a fire station in Washington, DC.

The inspiration for the dog in the sculpture is Erin, Colorado’s first arson dog who died from cancer.

As the statue is transported to its final home, there will be a roadshow from June 21 to 28, 2012 stopping in 12 cities starting in Denver, Colorado and ending in Washington, with other stops in Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.   The full schedule of stops  can be found here.

Arson dogs are trained to detect hydrocarbons and other accelerants that are used to deliberately light fires.  The use of dogs in this service is yet another way that working dogs are used to benefit communities and the new monument is a fitting tribute to their contribution.

Daniel’s story

Daniel looks like an ordinary beagle.  But he isn’t.  He’s a survivor – quite literally.

In October 2011, Daniel was placed in a gas chamber in Alabama to die with three other unwanted/unclaimed dogs.   The miracle is that Daniel survived the gassing (by carbon monoxide).  The folks at Eleventh Hour Rescue, a rescue organisation that aims to save dogs from high-kill shelters, heard about Daniel and took him to New Jersey to find a forever home.

After fostering, Daniel was re-homed with Joe and Geralynn Dwyer.  Mr Dwyer now is a guest speaker around the country to encourage the banning of gas chambers in the United States and Mr Dwyer is happy to promote Daniel as the face of the anti-gassing law.   The law has been called “Daniel’s Law” in honor of Daniel.    Pennsylvania is the most recent state to enact it.

Only 19 states in the USA have banned the use of gassing as a means of euthanising unwanted dogs and over 4 million animals are euthanised each year in the country.

Here are a couple of video clips of Daniel’s story, starting with his original fostering arrangement:

And on Anderson Cooper: