Sept. 11, 2002 Photo Gallery

        MOUNT HEALTHY — There were many heroes at Ground Zero. Some of them, like Alex, have four legs.

        The 3 1/2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever was honored Wednesday by the 500 K-6 students at Greener Elementary on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Alex is a member of the Interquest Detection Canines of Cincinnati, the company Mount Healthy City Schools hires to conduct searches for contraband at its high school and two middle schools.

        Although Alex's primary job was to search for explosives at Ground Zero, his secondary role proved just as important. During his breaks, Alex visited the emotion-filled firefighters who were coming off the rubble during their breaks.

WTC bomb-sniffing dog Alex gets a kiss Wednesday from Jennifer Wells, a fifth-grader at Greener Elementary. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        “We would allow those people to pet Alex,” said Gene Papet, his trainer. “What happens when you pet a dog? You start thinking about good things. You start thinking about the good things from your childhood. It brought smiles to their faces.”

        Mr. Papet, co-owner of Interquest, has friends who are New York detectives. They called him and asked if he had a dog that could help at the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Within two hours, Mr. Papet was on the road with Alex.

        At the Trade Center, the dog and Mr. Papet worked long hours — on 10-hour shifts, off two hours and on 10 hours again. It took 90 minutes to walk the perimeter of the wreckage.

        Wednesday, the children clapped and cheered when Alex was introduced. The dog was a bit nervous at all the applause, a byproduct of working at noisy Ground Zero.

        The students gave Alex a “Basket of Love,” full of doggie treats and chew toys. In turn, Mr. Papet left photos of Alex at Ground Zero to be displayed at school.

        Each child got an Alex trading card and got to pet the dog on the way back to class.

        “I think he was very brave and courageous,” said Sara Doan, a 12-year-old sixth-grader.

        Eleven-year-old Chris Hennen remembered how shocked he was when he learned of the attacks a year ago. And on the first anniversary, the sixth-grader said, “It's a very sad memory.”

        But the country has changed, he said.

        “It's made our country stronger.”

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