March 15, 2010
Dogs of Valor Winners Announced
The HSUS announces Third Annual Dogs of Valor Award winners
WASHINGTON — The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, is pleased to announce that Kenai, a Bernese mountain dog mix from Erie, Colo., is the Valor Dog of the Year. The awards celebrate the human-animal bond by honoring dogs who have exhibited an extraordinary sense of courage or resolve by heroically helping a person in need.
Kenai earned the third annual Valor Dog of the Year for awakening her owner to alert him to a carbon monoxide leak in the vacation home where he, six other adults, two children, and three dogs were sleeping.
"The HSUS's Dogs of Valor awards celebrate the human-animal bond by honoring dogs who have engaged in remarkable acts of altruism, courage and intelligence," said HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. "Dogs are our friends, but they can also be our saviors, and the list of 100 nominees provides plenty of support for that proposition."
The Valor Dog of the Year was chosen by a panel of celebrities including: film and television actor Kristin Bell, who played a mysterious character with special powers on the hit show "Heroes;" Sally Pressman, whose character on Lifetime's "Army Wives" adopted a stray dog who saved a soldier's life in Iraq; and Jay Kopelman, a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel who brought a puppy back from Iraq and wrote "From Bagdad With Love" recalling the experience.
Calamity Jane, a golden retriever mix from Aledo, Texas, was named both First Runner Up by the panel of celebrity judges and People's Hero by online voters for scaring away intruders by ferociously barking and growling outside a home where a family and their guests had been held at gunpoint for nearly an hour.
The People's Hero was chosen by the public through online voting at humanesociety.org.
Benson, a golden retriever from Binghamton, N.Y. was named Second Runner Up for barking and alerting his owners to a fire across the street, giving them time to run to their neighbors' house and awaken the family before the house was consumed by flames.
The winners will receive prizes from Bella Tocca Tags, Custom Glass Etching and The HSUS' online store, Humane Domain.
To read the complete stories of this year's Dogs of Valor, please visit humanesociety.org/dogsofvalor.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization – backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at humanesociety.org.