There's a story going around on the internet that tells of the heroic exploits of a guide dog named Daisy who purportedly saved hundreds of people at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The story is entirely untrue but what interests me about it is that the dog is presented as being a combination of Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, and the mounted cavalry. The dog is essentialy a canine superhero. She runs around all by herself alerting people and leading hundreds to safety.
In the collective mind of the general public guide dogs are already thought to be extraordinary: many think that the guide dog makes all the decisions for a blind person; that the blind man or woman is just attached like someone riding in a motorcycle's side car. The truth is that guide dogs are working hard in tandem with their human partners and they do not make navigational decisions beyond making sure that safety is a priority.
The fact that the public invests guide dogs with super human powers is a very interesting thing because of course the dogs become symbols in these urban myths. Disability recedes as a category of competency and the animal spirit becomes more courageous and miraculous in the face of danger.
The compensatory animal who possesses magic is an ancient figure in mythology and folk tales.
Heroic stories like Daisy's tend to emerge when a nation or village experiences a crisis.
There were in fact two guide dog users who managed to escape the twin towers on that terrible day along with their respective dogs. Their stories were celebrated widely by the news outlets.
The people are heroic. Guide dogs are their heroic partners. This is always a team effort, just as on that terrible day people formed teams and risked their lives for the common good.
SK
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