Purina 51st Animal Hall of Fame Ceremony
Yesterday, a few of us from Ren’s Pets had the absolute pleasure of attending the Purina 51st Animal Hall of Fame ceremony. Shining a light on the extraordinary connections that animals have with their owners, the Purina Animal Hall of Fame celebrates animal heroism and has inducted 182 animals to-date for their acts of courage.
Held at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto, this year’s event honoured three dogs for their acts of heroism, each of which saved their owner’s lives. Each of these remarkable dogs received a medal of honour at the red-carpet ceremony and a year’s supply of Purina dog food. Thankfully, Purina supplied each attendee with their own pack of tissues as we listened to each of the following heart-warming stories.
Tucker
Rachel and Jason live in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, with their four children and rescue dog Tucker, a six-year old Shepherd and Rottweiler mix. One night while sleeping, Rachel and Jason were awoken by Tucker barking and pawing at them on their bed. Immediately sensing that something was wrong, Rachel and Jason got out of bed and opened their bedroom door, behind which they saw a fire.
The fire had started in their garage and as the smoke bellowed outside, the fire alarms in their house did not go off. Thanks to Tucker’s keen sense of smell alerting him to changes in his environment, he was able to wake Rachel and Jason before it was too late. Although the fire destroyed their home, thanks to Tucker’s heroic efforts Rachel and Jason were able to get themselves and their children out of the house safely.
Rosco
Rosco, a three-year old Shepherd mixed breed, was rescued by Brittany when he was just a puppy in Calgary, Alberta. One day, Brittany had planned a trip to the mountains with her family, but her father Bryan decided to stay home and relax as he was feeling quite tired. Laying in bed and needing to get up to use the washroom, Bryan knew something was wrong as he was unable to get up and fell onto the floor. Bryan quickly realized he was having a stroke and began tapping his right foot on the floor.
Rosco found Bryan laying on the floor and was able to swing him around so that he could grab a bracket at the end of his bed and partially lift himself up to grab a nearby phone. He phoned 911 and when the emergency response crew arrived at the front door, he was able to grab onto Rosco who pulled him there. Thanks to Rosco’s quick and heroic reaction, Bryan was able to get the medical attention he needed and irreversible brain damage was prevented.
Shelby
Shelby, a 14-year old German Shepherd and Chesapeake Bay Retriever mix, was rescued by Louise and Andy in Sault Ste. Marie and has been very protective of her home and owners ever since. Louise took Shelby out for their regular walk one day and noticed that there were bear cubs on both sides of the trail. Louise, with Shelby in front of her, stopped walking while trying to determine where the mama bear was.
All of a sudden, the mama bear came charging in Louise and Shelby’s direction. Protecting Louise, Shelby stood her ground and was attacked by the bear. Although she received a number of severe wounds, Shelby thankfully survived the attack and Louise and Andy immediately brought her to the veterinarian’s office. Since then, Shelby has undergone a number of surgeries and is doing much better! Thanks to Shelby’s protective instinct and act of bravery, Louise was completely unharmed.
To learn more about this year’s inductees, or to nominate a heroic animal that you know, visit www.purinahalloffame.ca.