Canines to the Rescue

It’s been widely remarked that the only allies we can count on from “the first … to the last” (Tony Blair’s words) are the British. In a sense, this is true: The loyalty of our friends across the pond is peerless. But as the images of September 11’s aftermath remind us, there is another, often overlooked comrade whose fidelity is even more impressive, at least in a statistical sense. For while the British are unique among some 200 nations, canine fidelity is unique among the more than 10 million species of the earth.

Recently I spent the better part of an afternoon about half a mile south of where the World Trade Center stood, with Tara, a three-year-old golden retriever employed by Michael Stanton Associates, a private security firm. Tara’s job is to find bombs. Of course, she doesn’t know that they are bombs; all she knows is that her human master wants her to find something that smells like plastic explosives, or TNT, or a dozen other dangerous substances. The only payment she will receive for this is a few moments fetching the ball with her boss.

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Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a National Review contributing editor.

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It’s been widely remarked that the only allies we can count on from “the first … to the last” (Tony Blair’s words) are the British. In a sense, this is true: The loyalty of our friends across the pond is peerless. But as the images of September 11’s aftermath remind us, there is another, often overlooked comrade whose fidelity is even more impressive, at least in a statistical sense. For while the British are unique among some 200 nations, canine fidelity is unique among the more than 10 million species of the earth.

Recently I spent the better part of an afternoon about half a mile south of where the World Trade Center stood, with Tara, a three-year-old golden retriever employed by Michael Stanton Associates, a private security firm. Tara’s job is to find bombs. Of course, she doesn’t know that they are bombs; all she knows is that her human master wants her to find something that smells like plastic explosives, or TNT, or a dozen other dangerous substances. The only payment she will receive for this is a few moments fetching the ball with her boss.