PERRY, Iowa — Tank the Dalmatian from Perry, Iowa, is headed to New York City. He will become the mascot dog for Ladder 20 of the New York City Fire Department in lower Manhattan. Tank is set to replace the dog Twenty, who was given to the Ladder company 20 years ago after they lost seven firefighters when the North Tower came down September 11, 2001.

“I’ve always known about Twenty, who is the Dalmatian that the Rochester Sheriff gave to Ladder 20 of the New York Fire Department 20 years ago,” said Sara Rubin of Iowa Dalmatians. “She was a donation after the towers collapsed where they lost seven people and it was a donation to help them heal.”

After Twenty died in 2018, word got out that a new dog was available. But the firefighters were not yet ready, until there was a Facebook post saying, “they were ready to love again,” said Rubin.

Iowa Dalmatians is donating Tank to the NYFD, and a group of retired deputy sheriff officers from Rochester, New York, have raised money for Rubin and her mother, Tawni Plath, to bring Tank to the fire station.

“They heard they were getting another puppy, and the fire department asked if we could go there ourselves,” said Rubin. “So those awesome sheriff’s deputies, they’re now retired, they decided to pay for our trip to go to New York and bring this baby to them.”

Tank has a lively personality.

“He’s fun, carefree and wants to run around and play,” said Rubin. “He loves to snuggle when he’s not wanting to run.”

Mother and daughter will fly Tank to New York Tuesday, and then spend a few days in town catching some sights and checking on Tank.

Iowa Dalmatians does sell puppies, but its current litter is all sold-out.