Dogs' noses become tools in search for attack victims

NEW YORK -- With thousands buried in the World Trade Center rubble, one of the most refined search tools is the shining black nose of a dog named Jake.

"They know when it's death. They get upset," said Mary Flood, whose black Labrador retriever is among more than 200 search dogs brought in by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FBI, and police and fire departments.

Flood and Jake came as part of Utah Task Force 1, one of eight FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams. By Sunday Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had acknowledged the chances of finding survivors has nearly evaporated.

But FEMA's stated mission continues to be seeking out survivors -- and Flood said, "I need Jake to believe."

On one of their 12-hour shifts Jake scampered across the twisted steel, concrete chunks and office remains strewn over the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan. As water hoses doused the smoldering debris, the dogs stepped gingerly around.

When Jake picks up a human scent, "it's bark, bark, bark and he goes wild," said Flood. "When it's death, it's a tip of the nose."

As the days slip by, more dogs' muzzles are tipped down. "All the money and all the technology in the world can't replace these dogs," said Don Hull, a Los Angeles fire battalion chief with FEMA.