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American Morning

At Madison Square Garden, They're Honoring Four-Footed Heroes of September 11th

Aired February 11, 2002 - 09:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Across the street from us here in New York City, over at Madison Square Garden, they are honoring the four- footed heroes of September 11th.

Anderson Cooper is at the Westminster Kennel Club Show.

Hello there.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Jack.

I'm with Otto and Sonya Heritage who is with the Fairfax Country Urban Search and Rescue.

Now Otto was involved in the rescue efforts at the Pentagon, correct?

SONYA HERITAGE, FAIRFAX CO. URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE: Pentagon, correct, yes.

Yes, we worked over there with Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team. It's FEMA's Virginia task force one. And we're part of that response.

COOPER: Now the search-and-rescue dogs are being honored tonight at the Westminster Kennel Show, at start of the show, around 8:00 p.m. Tell us a little bit about the training of Otto. How does Otto get trained?

HERITAGE: Well, it takes about two years to train a disaster dog, starting from a young dog, and what we do is the dog -- we associate -- we want the dog to bark for an inaccessible victim, trapped in a collapsed building, so what we do in the very beginning is we associate a tug, barking, and you get a play reward. OK, we will give you your reward if you bark, and then what we do is we put that reward with a victim or with a subject that's acting as a victim, and we put them in rollophiles (ph).

So basically, what the dog's doing is a glorified game of hide- and-go-seek, and bark when they get to the scent, and the person with the tug will come popping out and play with them.

COOPER: Where else has Otto been, not just at the Pentagon? HERITAGE: Otto was part of the response to the embassy bombing In Nairobi, Kenya, and also the Turkey and Taiwan earthquakes, as well as the Pentagon.

Yes, I'm very proud of him.

COOPER: And you don't do this full time. You're actually -- you're a bartender in your regular job.

HERITAGE: That's true. That's true. I'm a bartender. We're -- most of the canine handlers -- actually all the canine handlers on the Fairfax team, and as well as most of them throughout the country are civilian, so we hold regular jobs.

COOPER: Exactly, Otto, I agree.

HERITAGE: We hold regular jobs and we do this when we find time. So we train nearly every weekend, and there's a lot of dedication that comes with it.

COOPER: What do you give Otto when -- if Otto believes this is all a game of play, what do you give Otto as a reward?

HERITAGE: He gets a leather tug that he would do anything for.

Do we have the leather tug?

COOPER: Can we have a tug? .

HERITAGE: This is it. This is what they do everything for. It's all just -- all for play. So it's a very honest work by the dog, because they're just doing because they believe they will find a victim and they will play with them, so they work 12-hour shifts, and that's the drive that keeps them going.

COOPER: And you live with Otto full time.

HERITAGE: Yes, I've had since he was a puppy, and until one of us falls over, we'll be together.

COOPER: Sonya Heritage, thanks very much.

Otto just one of the dogs being honored tonight here at the 126st Annual Westminster Dog Show.

Back to you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Terrific. Thanks, Anderson.

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