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Nikie in front of WTC building 4, October 2001, photo courtesy of K-9 Disaster Relief.

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(CBS) (NEW YORK) Feb 5, 2002 12:59 pm
The 120-pound golden retriever loped out of the temporary morgue at ground zero, and Lou Venditto brought his muddy payloader to a sudden halt. "Nikie!" he exclaimed, jumping down to tousle the familiar furry head.

Nikie, the only therapy dog certified to work at the World Trade Center site, wagged his tail as Venditto talked with the animal's handler, Frank Shane. Venditto, 37, eventually described the pain of losing his own golden retriever, Buster, to cancer.

Since Sept. 11, Nikie and Shane have enabled hundreds of construction laborers and rescue workers to talk about the extraordinary stress of working at ground zero, and the pressure it puts on their lives.

Kneeling to pet Nikie, they talk about broken marriages, unpaid bills and childhood memories. One man who works in the morgue talked for nearly an hour after a day when many remains were found.

"There's a special spot, I believe, in everyone that an animal transports you back to a child," said Shane, 54, founder of the nonprofit K-9 Disaster Relief. "In a disaster setting where your whole world has turned upside down and your trust wiped out, here comes an animal that psychologically transports you back to a period where you felt safe."

Nikie, 7, went through obedience training as a puppy and learned other skills necessary for a therapy dog -- such as how to remain calm amid commotion and how to let people approach him rather than sniffing strangers. Before Sept. 11, he worked mostly in hospitals.

Several pet therapy organizations stationed dogs at the city's family assistance centers to comfort victims' relatives after the attack. But few animals have the training and personality necessary to endure long hours in the cold and the constant clanging of ground zero.

"People are nice, but dogs are different," said Pat Sullivan, 38, a firefighter from Engine 162 in Staten Island. Feeding treats to Nikie as they warmed up inside a tiny heated tent on the south side of the site, Sullivan reminisced about the border collies he had as a child.

Police Officer Jeff Mullenbach, who has a dachshund, said many of the workers have their own dogs, but never get to see them now that they spend such long days at the site.

"You're down here for 13 hours straight -- he brings a bit of home to it," Mullenbach said. Nikie works long hours, too -- 12 hours a day, five days a week. He eats 12 cups of kibble before each shift.

He absorbs much of the workers' stress and pain, Shane said. When they arrive back home in Montclair, N.J., Shane gives Nikie a massage to work out the tension. He takes him for regular checkups, which include chest X-rays and blood tests, and watches for signs of stress, such as red eyes and a drooping tail.

Nikie has not showed any of those warning signs, Shane said, but did have fitful dreams during their first few months at the site. Collapsed on Shane's bed after a long day, Nikie would howl in his sleep.

"He not only absorbed the stress," Shane said, "he had to release it."

According to Shane, “his health and well being are my primary concern.” For every day that Nikie works, he is given one or two days off. Nikie is also part of a health study being conducted on Ground Zero canines by the University of Pennsylvania College of Veterinary Medicine. Shane continued, “Nikie lets me know when he needs down time, we go home and play. He gets to do whatever he wants and especially likes baths playing with a soccer ball in the park and riding in my Jeep with his head out the window.”

Nikie also knows when its time to get back to work, Shane smiled, “Nikie will open the closet door with his large paw and pull out his red backpack and put it by the door, it’s his way of letting me know that he needs to be with his friends at Ground Zero.”

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