Roselle was a Labrador bitch and belonged to the American Michael Hingson. Every day Roselle accompanied her owner to work, because he is blind and needed the dog to orientate himself. On 11 September 2001, Roselle and Hingson found themselves in a life-threatening situation because the American's workplace was on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center.
When the impacting planes hit the tower, Hingson cannot see what happened. But he realised immediately that it was a disaster. Roselle was lying under his desk when he reached for her leash. The dog reacted immediately and led her charge and 30 following people, including a woman with a serious eye injury, down the 78 smoke-filled floors of the burning World Trade Center. Deafening noise and great confusion did not faze the dog. Shortly after they arrived safely outside, the tower collapsed. It had taken the group, led by the dog, an hour to make their way down.
Roselle was awarded the title "American Hero Dog of the Year 2011" after her death. She was also awarded the Dickin Medal, the UK's highest honour for animals that have achieved excellence in the war effort. Roselle died in 2011 at the age of 13.
Michael Hingson later wrote a book about Roselle, also available in German, entitled: "Held auf vier Pfoten".
Salty was also at the World Trade Center as a guide dog with his owner Omar Rivera on the day of the attack. At the time of the impact, they were on the 71st floor, together with their dog trainer. Salty could not be separated from Rivera and so the trainer brought them both to safety. A second attempt by a helper to take Salty halfway up also failed. The Labrador bitch wanted to stay by Omar's side. Salty was also awarded the Dickin Medal.
During the later rescue operation and the search for buried victims, a total of 400 search dogs were deployed.