Last Surviving 9/11 Search-And-Rescue Dog Dies In Texas: VIDEO

HOUSTON, TX -- Bretagne, the last surviving search-and-rescue dog that searched for victims at ground zero of the World Trade Center tragedy, was put down on Monday due to deteriorating health.

"It is with heavy heart that the CFVFD must say 'Goodbye' to our beloved Bretagne," officials at the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department wrote on their Facebook page.

The golden retriever became a full member of the fire department in 2000, and was the founding canine member o the K9 Search & Rescue Team, fire department officials said. She had a certification as a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Disaster Search Dog, they added.

She and her handler, Denise Corliss of Cypress, responded to the World Trade Center tragedy as members of Texas Task Force 1 immediately after the September 11, 2001, attack. Bretagne was the oldest surviving member of the group of canine heroes sent as part of that team, officials said.

Throughout her career, she also responded to other notable disasters across the country, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Even after retiring from the active duty she began when she was ten years old, Bretagne continued to serve her community, fire department officials said. She served as an ambassador for the fire department at public events and even assisted a younger generation of canines undergo their training as search-and-rescue dogs.

"For the past 3 years, until just a few weeks ago, she was a regular visitor to Roberts Road Elementary School in the Waller Independent School District," officials said. "Each week, she would visit a first grade classroom and listen to young readers, providing a non-judgmental ear, and soft paw."

Bretagne also visited students with special needs, such as autism, officials noted: "Her calm demeanor and warm heart helped the young and old through their own difficult moments."

But Bretagne had been moving a little slow in the recent past, and was in increasingly poor health. Because of her deterioration, a painful decision was made to euthanize the heroic canine. Some two dozen firefighters and others lined the sidewalk leading up to the vet's office where a slow-moving Bretagne was led by her handler to be euthanized.

To a person, the canine's human counterparts stood at attention and saluted as Bretagne passed. Afterwards, her remains were transported in a casket draped with the Texas flag befitting her heroic actions on that fateful day that changed the world.

Bretagne was 16 years old.

Correction: The story was updated to clarify Bretagne's casket was draped with the Texas flag rather than the American flag.