Veterans share a bond—whether they served side by side or on different continents. When DVM student Phillip Ryan (’14) conducted intake for search and rescue dog Kaiser this spring, he knew they shared that special something.

On September 11, 2001, Kaiser, a certified FEMA Search and Rescue (SAR) German Shepherd, went to Ground Zero for his first mission. It was the largest deployment of SAR dogs in U.S. history. The 9/11 attacks also ultimately launched the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Phillip Ryan served and was injured.

Ryan served in the Navy from 1993 to 1997 and then the Naval Reserves until the end of 2001. He was in the reserves when Kaiser and his handler Tony Zintsmaster were at Ground Zero. Nearly 12 years later, the three met each other at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center. One of the few remaining “9/11 dogs,” Kaiser was diagnosed with oral fibrosarcoma tumors and received palliative radiation treatment in the Hospital's Radiation Oncology Service.

In the years since 9/11, Ryan earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and then entered MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, where he is now in his final year. Kaiser and Zintsmaster, meanwhile, contributed to search and rescue efforts in the wake of tornados, landslides, floods, and hurricanes across the country.

While Kaiser was in the Hospital for his treatments, Ryan visited him often, taking him out on the Hospital grounds, and sitting with him in the ward.

“It was heart-warming to see the two of them together,” says Isabelle Vanhaezebrouck, a board-certified radiation oncologist and assistant professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences who leads the Hospital’s Radiation Oncology Service. “Their relationship was clearly very special.”

Vanhaezebrouck explains that the goal of the palliative treatment was to alleviate pain, inflammation, and swelling associated with the tumor. The treatment was not designed to cure the cancer, but to slow its growth and to improve Kaiser’s quality of life.

The treatments successfully reduced the size of the tumor and Kaiser was in less pain and was able to comfortably eat. After treatments he was as active as he was before he became sick, says Zintsmaster. The family understood the treatment would not cure the aggressive cancer.

“We are hoping to be able to spend a final summer with Kaiser,” said Zintsmaster in July.

Kaiser delivered. He died at the age of 15 on October 18, 2013.

December 2013
Casey Williamson