Auditor, the Strip Mine Dog

Auditor, a stray dog, lived to be 17 years old at the Berkeley Pit in Butte, Mt., a Superfund site. The area where the dog lived is barren of vegetation, and water in the pond is so heavy with poison that when a flock of snow geese landed on it in 1995, the water burned their feet before they could lift off, and the birds died.

At some point, miners started leaving food out for Auditor and made him a shanty for shelter. But the dog disappeared for long periods and no one knew how he survived, especially during harsh winter months. The dog, who had shaggy dreadlocks, had been dumped as a puppy in the parking lot, and he never overcame his distrust of humans.

Butte has a statue of the dog at its mining museum, and townspeople look to Auditor as a symbol of the resilience of Butte and its residents.