"The priority mission of Customs and Border Protection is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering our country. At CBP we are fortunate to have the "Ivy League" of training facilities for working dogs. With this top-notch training they become a vital part of our overall strategy for a more secure frontline at our nations ports and borders." - Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (End Box)

CBP's four-footed participants
"Crazy Joe," voted top dog in the Paws to Recognize program, along with his handler, Canine Enforcement Officer Cindy Grob, participated in the event. Canine officers from each legacy agency'U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service??o participated in this event.

The CBP canine teams attending were Inspector Oscar Montano with "Boris'(Immigration), Canine Enforcement Officer Wojciec "Woody" Bochenek with "Oz" (Customs), Senior Patrol Agent Dave Perry with "Mick" (Border Patrol), Canine Officer James Armstrong with "K.C." (Agriculture), and Canine Officer Junior Anderson with "Bonnie" (Agriculture).

This event was Bonnie's last. One week after the event she was diagnosed with a serious illness and passed away on October 7. [Insert in box]

Bear Search and Rescue Foundation

Today, Captain Scott Shields is the director of marine safety for the New York City urban parks search and rescue team, but on September 11, 2001, he and his eleven-year-old golden retriever, Bear, were at Ground Zero in New York City helping with the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. Bear was one of the first canines to search the rubble. He worked eighteen-hour days, and is credited with finding many victims, including the FDNY Chief Peter Ganci. Bear was injured while working the site and the edges of his wound became cancerous. He died one year later of multiple forms of cancer.

The law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP established the Bear Search and Rescue Foundation in Bear's name in the fall of 2002. The foundation was created to address the needs of both canine and non-canine search and rescue (SAR) teams across the country.

The mission of the Bear Search and Rescue Foundation is: provide health care to all SAR K-9s that worked at Ground Zero and the Pentagon provide instructions in emergency management to search and rescue teams equip teams around the country provide free air transport for SAR teams where possible [end box]