Greenwich Village dog run donates $2,500 to K-9 Urban Search and Rescue team to help Haiti

The $50 annual membership fee at the Mercer/Houston Dog Run in Greenwich Village usually goes toward buying garbage bags, hose nozzles and swimming pools for the doggies.

But last week, members of the private dog run proudly delivered a $2,500 check to the city, and asked that the money be allocated to the city's K-9 Urban Search and Rescue teams.

"Since we're a group united by dogs, we wanted our little community to make a difference," said Beth Gottlieb, the dog run's president, whose collie, Romeo, is one of the run's 300 waggy-tailed members.

Days after an earthquake devastated Haiti, Gottlieb spent a sleepless night thinking how the dog run could help in the rescue efforts.

She was surprised - and delighted - by the quick response to her e-mail asking board members to approve a donation to canine search and rescue.

"Everyone was immediately on board and kept upping the ante, asking, 'Can't we give more?'" Gottlieb said.

"We wrote a check, brought it downtown and hoped for the best."

In fact, the money was donated through the Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC and will go to the city's 280-member K-9 Urban Search and Rescue team led by the Office of Emergency Management.

OEM spokesperson Chris Gilbride said the funds would go toward training and equipment for the dogs.

NYPD K-9 Officer Scott Mateyaschuk, who just returned from Haiti with his canine companion Aragon, was grateful for the group's generosity.

"That's really an honor," he said. "Anything that will help us do our job is greatly appreciated."

Mateyaschuk and Aragon, a handsome jet-black 5-year-old German shepherd, were among the city's four K-9 search and rescue teams that returned from Haiti this week.

Aragon, along with Caesar, Hunter and Storm, searched rubble piles in Port-au-Prince and were used to help locate survivors amid the debris.

The dogs - trained to detect the scent of live bodies, not human remains - also helped provide closure to people who waited to know if a loved one was dead or alive.

Mateyaschuk says finding a victim is a reward for the highly motivated dogs and they "don't stop until they drop."

Even the razor wire fence that ripped through Aragon's back didn't stop the agile dog from searching the pile at a Haitian children's school.

All four dogs are assigned to the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, which has eight K-9 teams.

It is the only police unit in the country that has the dual purpose of using canines as patrol - and nabbing perpetrators - and urban rescue.

It takes about a year-and-a-half to train and certify the $6,000 dogs, who hail from the Czech Republic, with Homeland Security. They train at facilities around the country and at Fresh Kills in Staten Island, where their handlers take turns burying one another alive.

Earlier this week, the heroic canines and their handlers were among the 80 members of the Urban Search and Rescue Team honored at a ceremony at City Hall.

Mayor Bloomberg awarded each dog with a special key to the city. But they were quickly gobbled up.

The all-natural ginger dog biscuits were donated by the Beggin' Dog Bakery in Staten Island, where baker Teresa Palumbo was thrilled to create the custom-ordered treats for the canine heroes.

Mateyaschuk said Aragon agreed. "He thought it was delicious."