Anchor: Taylor Petras
•9/9/2026
ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (WINK) — More than 300 search and rescue dogs combed the rubble of Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, and now there's a push to honor those service animals with a new monument in Washington, D.C.
This year, a Southwest Florida search and rescue animal is being honored with the Animal of the Year Award. Splash, a search and rescue otter, is helping solve cold cases and bring closure to families.
Working alongside his handler, Michael Hadsell, Splash has been a member of the Peace River K9 Search and Rescue team in Englewood for the past two years. Together, they've found human remains and murder weapons hidden in the water.
"You see these moms who even 30 years later they've got a little set up in the living room for their son or daughter that's missing, and every day they have they worry as to whether they're alive or not, or they're going to be found today or whatever. It's a horrible way to live," Hadsell said.
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"It's not going to be the devices that find them. It's going to be the animals that find them. So they play a very important role, and I think people need to be aware of their sacrifice too," Hadsell said.
That's the vision behind the National Service Animals Monument. The future memorial in D.C. needs $30 million in donations to bring it to life.
Susan Bahary is the founder and sculptor behind the monument.
"What we try to do in the monument is to honor and inspire and to educate, but we also are celebrating the incredible spirit and deeds and sacrifices of these amazing humans and animals that have partnered to create a better world, better country for us," Bahary said.
From the hundreds of dogs that searched the rubble at the World Trade Center 25 years ago to Splash the otter searching through mud at the bottom of the water, Hadsell says these animals deserve to be remembered.
"The animals contribute so greatly to the success of the missions. And even though we come up with AI and all kinds of gizmos, we still can't outrun the animals and their abilities to locate things in rubble or in these conditions," Hadsell said.
