AR-News: Farewell to Amy, a canine heroine

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Source:  The Journal News          


Farewell to a canine heroine
By PHIL REISMAN

(Original publication: May 18, 2004) 

Ordinarily I don't write dog obituaries, but I have to make an exception today. So here's a tribute to Amy, a yellow Labrador retriever whose olfactory powers and happy-go-lucky disposition gave critically needed reassurance to the public she so loyally served. Amy was a member of the Westchester County Bomb Squad, which meant that her job was to sniff out explosives. Dynamite, fireworks, Semtex — you name it — Amy could detect it within a matter of minutes. 

In the wake of the Columbine school killings and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it seemed like Amy never stopped working. Nobody knows exactly how many emergency calls she answered over her six-year career, maybe 2,000. The simple truth is her life spanned the new age of anxiety and there was little time for rest. When the World Trade Center towers fell, Amy was immediately brought in to "sweep" the Westchester County Airport, and for many weeks repeated that exhausting task twice a day. When the Clintons came to town, she routinely checked all the bags off-loaded from Air Force One and put her nose to every appliance and stick of furniture that went into their Chappaqua home — including all the stuff they should've left behind at the White House. 

Amy wasn't partisan, politically or otherwise. She liked everybody. She had a natural smile, the kind of winning dog smile that persists through natural selection and must've appealed to the affection-starved cave men who looked for warmth and companionship. 

Alongside her partner, Brant, another yellow Lab, Amy was a familiar sleuth at many public buildings. There probably isn't a school the two didn't visit, at least once. Over the years, The Journal News took a lot of photographs of the duo walking through school corridors or patiently sitting in classroom show-and-tell sessions. 

They were goodwill ambassadors for the cops and poster material for homeland security. Above all, they did their jobs well and with completely different, but complementary, styles. Amy worked in a ping-pong fashion, rocketing from object to object as if she were in a competition. Brant, on the other hand, was slow and methodical. 

Richard Smethurst, a former Bomb Squad commander, said the dogs' abilities were "mind-boggling." They could find mere traces of explosives anywhere — in the trunk of a car, in a school locker or in an airtight cargo hold. Often, they were loaned out to other law enforcement agencies. 

"I tell you something," Smethurst said, "it made me proud because I knew how good they were. I've been all over the country with my job and I've seen the dogs. Nobody had better dogs than Westchester. 

"I've heard it from Nassau, Suffolk, New York City, the Secret Service, FBI — none of these guys had seen dogs that were as thorough and as accurate as these two. They were really phenomenal. They were beautiful dogs also, so fun to be with. Both of them were so damn smart." 

Amy never got a raise or took sick pay. She never complained about working overtime. When she retired last October, a medal was ceremoniously hung around her neck. Brant retired then, too, and went home to live with his handler, Detective Don Gray. 

Amy was taken in by her handler, Detective Bob Outhouse, who lives in Buchanan. Outhouse couldn't be reached yesterday, but it's giving away nothing to say that Amy had been sick for some time. She had a lesion on her brain and she wasn't going to get better. Finally, last week, her struggle came to an end and she had to be put down. Amy was 9 years old. 

Amy was cremated at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, which has a hallowed tradition of honoring service dogs. Making good on a promise, Ed Martin, the cemetery's owner, waived the $275 fee for Amy. 

"Listen, these dogs are great," Martin said yesterday. "All dogs are great as far as I'm concerned. You don't know how many lives are saved because of them, so it's really an honor and a pleasure to do it." 

There was some talk that Amy's remains would be interred at the historic cemetery, but word has it that she will be buried at home, in Outhouse's yard, and that her grave will be marked by a cross. 

Good dog, Amy. It's finally time to rest.