It occurred to Peter Taft, as he watched television on April 19, 1995, that he was not "that" guy.
On the screen, firefighters and rescue workers were combing through the multistory rubble of what had been the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, searching for survivors of the domestic terror bombing that claimed 168 lives, including 19 children .
"I remember seeing a search-and-rescue dog being handed from firefighter to firefighter, up and up and up, and then watching the dog go to work," Taft said.
"I was thinking guys like me don't do that. I'm the art geek from high school. I'm not a tough guy. There is some other guy that does that, and they're incredible, but I ain't that guy."
Two things changed all that for the Williamsburg-based professional "music, night life and fashion photographer."
The first was 9/11.
The second was Cassius, the 8-year old rescue-trained German shepherd who has been Taft's partner since the dog was 8 months old.
A certified paramedic and rescue worker, Taft worked with Cassius in Grenada after hurricane Ivan in 2004 and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The two have been to Haiti twice since the killer Jan. 12 earthquake.
Before he teamed up with Cassius, Taft, a certified paramedic, also worked rescue missions in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami and devastating Pakistan earthquake in 2005.
Taft hopes to return to Haiti with Cassius this year if he can hustle up the money. Although he travels as a volunteer with a nongovernmental agency - he was with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Haiti after the quake - Taft pays his and Cassius' way.
And he never just hops a plane.
"I don't believe in self-deploying," Taft said. "If you self-deploy, you don't have any kind of network of food, communications or water, and you end up being a problem in a place where there is already a problem," Taft said.
This month, the American Kennel Club honored the duo with its AKC Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence (ACE Awards) for their work.
"I am just so proud of him," Taft said of Cassius, who was rescued from being euthanized at a Milwaukee animal shelter and trained at Seattle's Northwest K9 Academy.
"He was this young, goofy puppy who sometimes chased butterflies rather than climbed through rubble. But over time he grew into his potential.
"He was great in New Orleans for Katrina. We worked 12- and 14-hour days in 100-degree weather. He was so focused and on his game. He's a smart pooch."
Taft was born and raised in Manhattan - he lived at 57th and First Ave.. His mother, Judy, was a punk musician who left the scene to became a lawyer, and is now retired. His late father, James, was a lawyer with the William Morris Agency.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/09/24/2010-09-24_have_dog_will_travel__to_search_and_rescue.html#ixzz10bjDkxJ9
On the screen, firefighters and rescue workers were combing through the multistory rubble of what had been the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, searching for survivors of the domestic terror bombing that claimed 168 lives, including 19 children .
"I remember seeing a search-and-rescue dog being handed from firefighter to firefighter, up and up and up, and then watching the dog go to work," Taft said.
"I was thinking guys like me don't do that. I'm the art geek from high school. I'm not a tough guy. There is some other guy that does that, and they're incredible, but I ain't that guy."
Two things changed all that for the Williamsburg-based professional "music, night life and fashion photographer."
The first was 9/11.
The second was Cassius, the 8-year old rescue-trained German shepherd who has been Taft's partner since the dog was 8 months old.
A certified paramedic and rescue worker, Taft worked with Cassius in Grenada after hurricane Ivan in 2004 and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The two have been to Haiti twice since the killer Jan. 12 earthquake.
Before he teamed up with Cassius, Taft, a certified paramedic, also worked rescue missions in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami and devastating Pakistan earthquake in 2005.
Taft hopes to return to Haiti with Cassius this year if he can hustle up the money. Although he travels as a volunteer with a nongovernmental agency - he was with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Haiti after the quake - Taft pays his and Cassius' way.
And he never just hops a plane.
"I don't believe in self-deploying," Taft said. "If you self-deploy, you don't have any kind of network of food, communications or water, and you end up being a problem in a place where there is already a problem," Taft said.
This month, the American Kennel Club honored the duo with its AKC Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence (ACE Awards) for their work.
"I am just so proud of him," Taft said of Cassius, who was rescued from being euthanized at a Milwaukee animal shelter and trained at Seattle's Northwest K9 Academy.
"He was this young, goofy puppy who sometimes chased butterflies rather than climbed through rubble. But over time he grew into his potential.
"He was great in New Orleans for Katrina. We worked 12- and 14-hour days in 100-degree weather. He was so focused and on his game. He's a smart pooch."
Taft was born and raised in Manhattan - he lived at 57th and First Ave.. His mother, Judy, was a punk musician who left the scene to became a lawyer, and is now retired. His late father, James, was a lawyer with the William Morris Agency.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/09/24/2010-09-24_have_dog_will_travel__to_search_and_rescue.html#ixzz10bjDkxJ9
