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10/01/07 |
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It's All About ScottNote: this information is a loose biography, gathered from Scotts book, and what we pieced together from reading various articles, witnesses and court documents concerning Scott. According to Scott Shields' book, Scott is 55 years old. He is from New York and Miami. He attended Drew University which is a small liberal arts college in New Jersey. According to Scott he got into the family business after college. The family business was making and selling ladies dresses at the Susan Shields Dress Shop. The shop has had numerous addresses over the years in Westport Ct, and Greenwich Ct. Scott and his sister Patty presumably began to run the business after their mother Susan started having health problems. It has been reported to us by friends of the family that she now resides in assisted living in Stanford Ct. It was also reported by former customers that the Dress Shop literally moved in the middle of the night, leaving the customers without their garments. We also have court documents on this site that state that the business filed for bankruptcy in 2002. We also have documents stating that the dress shop was evicted owing over $100,000 in back rent. We also have numerous documents stating that Scott and his family have been evicted numerous times from their personal residences in Greenwich CT and again from their apartment in Battery Park City. All of the addresses can be found in the court documents section. We have also secured bankruptcy records for Scott, Patty, Susan and the Dress shop. They can all be viewed in the court documents section. It is important to note that several of these bankruptcies were filed in efforts to forestall evictions that were occurring. This is a serious abuse of the court system. Shields achieved some moderate fame after 9/11 by making claims concerning his response to 9/11. We have examined his claims, spoken with eyewitnesses and examined the photographic evidence. Shields may have arrived at the WTC in 38 minutes, but that cannot be verified. Even if he did, Mr. Shields was a civilian with no training, and had no business responding to the WTC, especially with lights and sirens. In addition his dog Bear had no formal search and rescue training as well. This he admits in his book. On 9/12/01 Shields was confronted by officers of the NYPD K9 unit. He was escorted off of the "pile". It was at this time that it was confirmed that Bear had no official training. Shields spent the remainder of his time at the WTC relegated to the Red Cross hospitality tent, or riding around in a golf cart. He never spent 18 hours days on the "pile" with Bear, as he states in various news articles. NYPD K9 officers, have described Bear as being old, sick, and crying while he was on the pile. They believe Bear's alleged injuries were preexisting. There are other eyewitnesses that recall Scott Shields at the WTC, but only at staging or triage areas and never actually on the pile. That did not stop Shields from claiming that he and Bear were heroes of 9/11. He began to make ridiculous claims that Bear found the most victims and made live finds and that Bear was injured at 9/11, and that he and Bear worked 18 hour days on the "pile". For the record there were NO live finds by any canine. Scott was removed from the pile on 9/12, so his claims of 18 hours days are false. Then Bear died in 2002. Scott claims this was due to injuries sustained at 9/11. As we have just pointed out, Bear only spent one day on the "pile" and his injuries appeared to be preexisting. There is absolutely no evidence linking Bear's death to 9/11. He died of cancer which is common of older dogs of his breed. Bear was in fact 12 years old at the time of his death. Scott has insisted that it was 9/11 related. His battle with Veterinary Pet Insurance has been widely publicized. VPI is an insurance company, that had generously offered to insure working dogs from the WTC. In their decision to deny Shields benefits they correctly stated that there was no record of Bear being treated for any injuries at the WTC site, that his injuries were preexisting. Shields confronted them in the public media and they reversed their decision, they paid Shields approximately $3000 in benefits. You can read the full story on our links page. Shields then goes on to say that Bear was buried as a FDNY firefighter. This is also a departure from the truth. Bear's funeral was attended by Aviation 3 Fire Department. Not to disparage Aviation and their fine efforts, but they are not FDNY, they are a volunteer department located in the Bronx. It is unclear whether any FDNY personnel actually attended. Mr. Shields then wrote a book, along with coauthor Nancy West. Many believe the book to be embellished to say the least. Many people have come forward to tell us that Shields may have embellished some of his claims, some people even refute just about every claim in the book. Mr. Shields also claims affiliations with several civilian Search and Rescue organizations. Including Metro NY SAR, NYCSAR, and NYSAR. NY Search and Rescue has told us they have no affiliation with Bear Search and Rescue or Shields. Metro NY Search and Rescue has told us the Shields is not now nor ever was a member. Metro SAR has even taked great offense at Shields wearing their uniform collecting money for his foundation. NYC Search and Rescue has reportedly gone defunct. We also contend that Mr. Shields present dog Theodore is also not trained as Scott claims. Theodore's poor skills and behavior have been witnessed by many legitimate K9 handlers, and it is reported that the dog does not have any skills whatsoever. This however has not stopped Scott from putting a Search and Rescue vest on the dog and telling people (mostly civilians) that Theodore is trained in Search and Rescue. Mr. Shields is frequently seen at boat shows claiming the dog is trained. He even makes this claim on his website. Shields Search dog demonstrations are simply Theodore playing with a tennis ball, he has never demonstrated any real skills or training. Theodore has bitten at least on woman and several other dogs at trade shows. This behavior would simply not be tolerated in a legitimate search and rescue animal. Mr. Shields then goes on to claim that 10,000 people in the New Orleans area are alive because of Bear Search and Rescue. These claims are simply too nebulous to be taken seriously. I have personally spoken with several members of Scott's "team" and they all report this claim to be embellished. In fact some members even report that Scott interfered with their efforts, and wasted time and resources. We will address these claims in the forum section of this site. Mr. Shields latest alleged fraud involves the U.S. Coast Guard. He has on several occasions claimed to be associated with the USCG. Despite not offering any proof of any type or marine or boating safety training. After checking this out we find that Mr. Shields is an Honorary Auxiliarist. The USCG Auxiliary is the volunteer civilian branch of the USCG. Again with an Honorary position there are no duties or responsibilities. Even if he does have this status it does not entitle him to wear a uniform or place a USCG K9 patch on his dog. People might mistakenly think that the animal is owned by the USCG. This is especially misleading when Mr. Shields appears at boat shows with the dog. Mr. Shields has numerous times represented that Theodore is an official USCG Search and Rescue dog. Members of the actual USCG K9 team have contacted us to offer their support to refute this claim. This matter is now under investigation by the USCG Investigative Service and the Director of Auxiliary. Shields also calls himself a captain. This has never been explained either by Scott himself or in the book. The coauthor stated in her comments on Amazon.com stated that Captain was a term of affection on "the waterfront". I checked this claim against US Coast Guard records and Scott does not hold a Captains license. He offers no claims of military service either. So as best we can tell Scott is not a captain of anything. He does mention that he was Captain of the School Safety Patrol while he was at PS 183. Scott continues to attend trade shows, mostly pet expos selling his book and asking for donations to the BSARF. Scott does not hold a job or work in any other capacity. The Foundation simply supports him and his sister Patty (who also doesn't work). He is not a hero, he is not a firefighter, he is not a marine safety manager, he is not an emergency management specialist. He offers no skills or training in any of these areas. I'm sure this bio is only scratching the surface of Shield's real activities and motives, but was provided to give you a background of the man. We are certainly holding back important information that if released could jeopardize ongoing investigations. If you would like to add corrections or comments please feel free to contact the webmaster. This website will gladly remove any allegation PROVEN to be false. You can contact us either through the forum, where we invite you to share your comments or email us anonymously through the contact page.
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This site was last updated 02/09/07