Sept. 11 rescue dog to be cloned

MILL VALLEY, Calif., July 1 (UPI) -- A German shepherd that served as a rescue dog in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has been chosen for cloning by a Mill Valley, Calif., company.

BioArts International said retired Canadian police officer James Symington wrote an essay about his dog, Trakr, that won the company's contest to find the most "clone-worthy dog," the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Symington and Trakr were among the first search-and-rescue teams to seek out survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks at Ground Zero in New York City.

Trakr, 15, now suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder that experts said may be linked to exposure to toxic smoke at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.

"We received many touching submissions to our contest, describing some truly amazing dogs," BioArts chief executive Lou Hawthorne said. "Trakr's story blew us away. His many remarkable capabilities were proven beyond all doubt on our nation's darkest hour -- and we view the work of cloning him as a great honor."