Television and film star James Denton and model and animal advocate Beth Stern will return to host the 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards, a star-studded annual celebration of heroes on both ends of the leash, honoring outstanding working dogs from around the country.
The awards gala, sponsored by the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation and Zoetis Petcare (a U.S. business unit of Zoetis), will also feature Danielle Fishel, Carrie Ann Inaba, Naomi Judd, Bailee Madison, Debbie Matenopoulos, Cameron Mathison, Brandon McMillan, Denise Richards and Alison Sweeney as presenters. Additional celebrity participants and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards will take place on Saturday, September 29 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be broadcast as a two-hour special nationwide on Wednesday, October 24 at 8:00PM ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.
The evening will honor seven canine finalists and will reveal which dog will be honored with the coveted 2018 American Hero Dog title. A combination of America’s voting, which includes over one million public votes, and a panel of celebrity judges will determine which dog will be named the 2018 American Hero Dog. As previously announced, the category winners competing to be named the 2018 American Hero Dog include:
LAW ENFORCEMENT/ARSON DOG OF THE YEAR (sponsored by K-9 Courage from Zoetis Petcare): “K-9 Flash” from Detroit, Michigan
EMERGING HERO DOG OF THE YEAR: “Willow” from Las Vegas, Nevada
GUIDE/HEARING DOG OF THE YEAR: “Frances” from Staten Island, New York
MILITARY DOG OF THE YEAR (sponsored by K-9 Courage from Zoetis Petcare): “Sgt. Fieldy” from McAllen, Texas
SEARCH AND RESCUE DOG OF THE YEAR: “Ruby” from East Greenwich, Rhode Island
SERVICE DOG OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Modern Dog): “Roxy” from Canton, North Carolina
THERAPY DOG OF THE YEAR (sponsored by Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food, the Official Pet Food of the 2018 Hero Dog Awards): “Chi” from Phoenix, Arizona
The judges for the 2018 Hero Dog Awards campaign represent a variety of celebrity dog lovers including Miranda Lambert, Kristin Chenoweth, Carson Kressley, Erik Estrada, Jamie Chung, Michelle Beadle, Danielle Fishel, Mark Steines and Carlos and Alexa PenaVega. Returning judges include Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof, Bailee Madison, Carolyn Hennesy, Ashlan and Philippe Cousteau, Laura Nativo, Lorenzo Borghese and 2011 Arson Hero Dog winner Jerry Means.
For more information about the 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards or to purchase tickets to the awards gala on Saturday, September 29, please visit www.herodogawards.org. For more information on sponsorship opportunities email Mari Harner at marih@americanhumane.org or call 1-800-227-4645.
