The Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization, is pleased to announce that Yogi, a golden retriever from Austin, Texas, has received the top honor in its fourth annual Dogs of Valor Awards. Yogi was named not just Valor Dog of the Year, but also was the top vote getter in for the People’s Hero Award. 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.
Yogi earned the Valor Dog of the Year and People’s Hero awards for barking furiously and running to get help for his owner who had hit a bump on his mountain bike, flipping him over the handles and paralyzing him from the chest down.
“Reading the stories of these intrepid animals, you can’t help but feel a sense of admiration and wonder,” said HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. “We all know that dogs are loyal and affectionate, but these dogs employed their senses, intelligence, and courage to heroically protect their families and other people in crisis.”
The panel of celebrity judges named Sarge, a German shepherd from Forsyth, Ill., the first runner-up for waking his owner and leading him to his daughter’s bedroom where an intruder was lurking inside.
Gangsta, a Pomeranian from Selden, N.Y. was named second runner-up for hysterically barked to get his family’s attention when their daughter suffered a violent seizure in the shower and collapsed unconscious in a tub of scalding water.
The Valor Dog of the Year and two runners-up were chosen by a panel of celebrities including: Charlotte Ross who has played a tough cop on NYPD Blue and shown her lighter side in Glee; Chris Riggi, who is best known for his roles on Gossip Girl and his version of Twilight’s werewolf Jacob in Fox’s parody, Vampires Suck; and Jon Prescott, who will be starring in the upcoming film The One and will also appear in Maladies. Both films are scheduled for release in 2011. The People’s Hero was chosen by the public through online voting at humanesociety.org/dogsofvalor.
The winners will receive prizes from Bella Tocca Tags, Custom Glass Etching, and The HSUS’ online store, Humane Domain.
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