This Day in History: Hero dogs of 9-11

On this day in 1996, a Labrador Retriever is born. That little dog, Salty, would become a guide dog, leading his blind owner from the burning World Trade Center on 9-11.

“Salty will always have a special place in my heart,” said Omar Rivera on the 11th anniversary of those attacks. “To see my family grow, to see my daughters grow, to continue to be together with my family—it’s such a gift. Life is a gift.”

Rivera had been at work early that day. He was on the 71st floor preparing for a meeting when he heard a huge, crashing noise.  It was the sound of American Airlines Flight 11 hitting the building 22 floors above him, but he had no way to know that.

Salty and Roselle

Salty began running back and forth. “He did it at least five or six times—I think he was trying to search out what was going on—and then he just came back to me and sat down next to me, very anxious,” Rivera remembered. He understood that Salty felt a sense of urgency.

He put on Salty’s harness and headed for the stairs. Smoke was everywhere. It was crowded, and people were screaming.

“I’m going down with a guide dog that has not enough space, that is probably too much for him. I say, ‘Well, Salty, maybe it is better for you to go.’” He let go of the dog, hoping that Salty would save himself. But Salty had no intention of leaving without Rivera.

“I knew for certain he loved me just as much as I loved him,” Rivera said. “He was telling me, I am with you. No matter what. You and I together, and that’s—no question.”

They emerged at street level, and Salty cleared a path for Rivera. The two ran as fast as they could and escaped just in time.

Salty wasn’t the only heroic guide dog that day. Roselle, another Labrador Retriever, was with Michael Hingson on the 78th floor of the same tower.

“There was an incredible bang,” Hingson said. “Sort of a dull thud, but certainly very tremendous. Then the building shook very violently.” One of his colleagues, David Frank, looked out a window and could see the fire above, along with falling debris.

In that moment, Hingson had an advantage that the others did not: He couldn’t see the terror unfolding. It enabled him to remain calm, organizing an orderly evacuation before he left himself.

He and Frank were the last ones out of their office. Roselle, of course, was right by Hingson’s side.

“She did a tremendous job. . . . she knows how to cope with noises; she knows how to cope with a lot of different stressful things,” Hingson explained. “She played guide down the stairs.” She also bestowed kisses on several firemen who checked on them before continuing their trek up the stairs.

“[P]robably the last unconditional love he got in his life,” Hingson noted sadly of one fireman.

They finally made it out of the building and were only two blocks from the World Trade Center when the first tower began to collapse. “It sounded like a metal and concrete waterfall,” Hingson explained. Roselle was already on the move, guiding him into a subway entrance.

In the end, Roselle helped Hingson walk about 40 blocks, finally making it to a friend’s apartment. Would you believe they even managed to help another woman, blinded by debris, as they made their escape?

Both dogs had withstood conditions far worse than anyone could have imagined, much less trained the dogs for. They were heroes, and each dog received a PDSA Dickin Medal a few months later.

“Each time I think about Salty, I think about something happy,” Rivera concluded. “He was a special, special guy.”

Primary Sources:

• Appollo, Roselle and Salty—PDSA Dickin Medal 56, 57 and 58 (PDSA website)

• Bud Boccone, Guide Dog Roselle Helped Her Blind Partner Escape the World Trade Center (American Kennel Club;  Sept. 13, 2023)

• Laura T. Coffey, Salty, a relative of Wrangler's, led blind owner to safety from 71st floor on 9/11 (Today show; Sept. 11, 2015)

• Michael Hingson, Not Just Surviving the Disaster of September 11 but Providing Leadership in a Deadly Emergency (Braille Monitor; Dec. 2010)

• Michael Hingson on Larry King Live (Sept. 14, 2001) (transcript available HERE)

• Michael Hingson on Larry King Live (Sept. 11, 2002)

• Remembering 9/11—Omar and Salty's Story (one minute version) (Guiding Eyes For the Blind video)