Roselle, the guide dog who led her blind master safely down 78 flights of stairs following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has been named the top American Hero Dog at the world’s first American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards, presented by Cesar Canine Cuisine. Roselle, who passed away this summer, was honored at the Hero Dog Awards with her master, Michael Hingson, and guide dog Africa. The star-studded awards were hosted at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 1st by Carson Kressley. The event will air on November 11th on the Hallmark Channel. Hundreds of dogs were nominated and some 400,000 votes were cast by the public, culminating in the selection of eight extraordinary canine finalists. The panel of celebrity judges included Betty White, Whoopi Goldberg, Orlando Brown, Kristin Chenoweth, Mark Hamill, Jillian Michaels and many more animal lovers and activists. Roselle is the American Hero Dog for 2011, but all eight finalists were winners in their categories:
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Sadie (from Westminster, CO), a certified bomb-sniffing K-9 who
works with the Major Crimes Unit of the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation.
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Zurich (Des Plaines, IL), a certified service dog who helps care for and enriches the life of his sick partner.
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Stacey Mae (Guffey, CO), a therapy dog who has helped collect
thousands of teddy bears from around the world for sick children in
hospitals.
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Military Working Dog Bino (Las Cruces, NM), who has served as a Narcotics Detection/Patrol K9 for almost 11 years.
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K9 Sage (Hagerman, NM), not only served at the Pentagon on 9/11 but continues search and rescue work today.
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Harley (Fountain Hills, AZ), a hearing dog who has given his
owner self-confidence and a feeling of equality with others that she had
not experienced before.
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Ricochet (Escondido, CA), a dog who surfs with special needs kids and people with disabilities for therapeutic purposes.
You can read all the finalists’ touching and heroic stories online at www.herodogawards.org.
