2010 DOGS OF VALOR
The Valor Dog of the Year received a custom made crystal statue.
The Humane Society's Third Annual Dogs of Valor Awards celebrates the human-animal bond by honoring dogs who have exhibited an extraordinary sense of courage or resolve by heroically helping a person in need.
Our panel of celebrity judges chose this year's Valor Dog of the Year and the Runners Up, and the public chose this year's People's Hero winner.
Read about all of the nominees here: www.humanesociety.org/about/events/vote_valor.html
Top winners received a custom sterling silver tag with bezel set stone.
Please join us in recognizing these dogs for the intelligence, persistence, and courageous spirit they each demonstrated while saving the lives of humans in need!
Valor Dog of the Year—Kenai
Owners: Todd Smarr and Michelle Sewald
Erie, Colorado
It was 4 a.m. when Kenai, a 14-year-old Bernese mountain dog mix, started to whine and bark. One of her owners, Todd Smarr, heard Kenai and immediately felt there must be something wrong.
Todd, along Kenai’s other owner Michelle Sewald, and their friend Karen Hull, were staying in the basement of a vacation house during a weekend getaway with family and friends. When he got up to comfort Kenai, Karen stood up and said she didn’t feel well. Todd woke his wife, Michelle, so she could help Karen, and right away they all realized that none of them felt well.
That’s when Michelle collapsed into Todd’s arms, unconscious. They rushed upstairs, woke their friends, and after a quick discussion, realized there must be a carbon monoxide leak. The seven adults, two children, and four dogs, escaped to fresh air.
Authorities determined the leak was coming from the stove and the highest threat had been in the basement. Todd was treated at a local hospital and Michelle and Karen were flown to a hospital in Denver and treated in a hyperbaric chamber.
1st Runner Up & People's Hero—Calamity Jane
Owners: Homer and Shar Pauley
Aledo, Texas
Calamity Jane was still recovering from having her leg amputated following an old gunshot wound and giving birth to a litter of seven puppies when her foster mom, Shar Pauley, took her and the family’s other two dogs outside for a break on a cold January night.
Suddenly, Calamity Jane bolted to the neighbor’s yard, hackles raised, and began barking and growling with ferocious intensity. Shar then heard a car door slam and watched a car speed out of her neighbor’s driveway. She grabbed the dogs and hurried back inside.
Minutes later, the neighbor came to their door and asked them to call 911. His family and guests, including two children, had been held at gunpoint for close to an hour during a violent home invasion.
But when the intruders heard Calamity Jane, they yelled to one another that there were people outside and quickly fled the terror stricken home.
2nd Runner Up—Benson
Owners: Linda Hamilton and Jamie Szenher
Binghamton, New York
Around 2:30 a.m. on a cold February night, Jamie Szenher, Linda Hamilton, and her two sons were startled awake by Benson, their 5-year-old rescued Golden Retriever. His bark was unusually intense.
While he usually slept in a back room with their other three dogs, that night he was positioned on a couch in the front of the house, barking at flames that were shooting out of their neighbor’s house across the street.
When Hamilton and her family woke and saw the glow of the flames, they immediately rushed to their neighbor’s house and began pounding on the door, yelling for them to get out.
They finally woke the family, who had just enough time to grab their children, 2 and 4, and escape. The fire, caused by a malfunctioning space heater, destroyed the house as well as the family’s two cars.
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