Luca
Want to cheer – and vote – for a Fort Worth hero?
Then get ready to cheer for Luca, a retired Fort Worth police dog who came out of retirement to track a missing elderly man.
After more than a third of a million votes from across the country, 21 courageous canines – including Luca – are advancing to the semifinal rounds of the 2017 American Humane Hero Dog Awards, presented by the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation and broadcast nationally on Hallmark Channel.
The heroic hounds were chosen by the American public to advance to the next round from a field of 188 remarkable candidates. The public is now invited to visit www.HeroDogAwards.org between now and June 28 to vote once per day for their favorite in one of the seven Hero Dog categories.
The seven finalists will be flown to Los Angeles to take part in the star-studded seventh annual Hero Dog Awards gala on September 16 at the Beverly Hilton, where one will be chosen as the 2017 American Hero Dog, the top honor a dog can receive. The event will be broadcast in the fall as a two-hour special on Hallmark Channel.
Luca will compete in the Search and Rescue event.
Here’s the story on Luca of Grand Prairie:
“On March 15, 2016, Fort Worth Police were dispatched to a missing endangered male. Two elderly men visited a large salvage yard when one suddenly realized that his elderly friend with Alzheimer’s was missing. After a brief search, he realized he needed help and called police. Many officers responded due to the age/medical condition of the missing man. After an extensive search, Sgt. Medrano asked Officer Brock if Luca would be of any help. Luca is Officer Brock’s retired Search-and-Rescue (SAR) German Shepherd, who was 10 years old at the time of this call. Luca excelled in area, water, avalanche and forest/desert searches. Officer Brock believed Luca excelled in this and it meant a helicopter ride, which Luca loved. Officer Brock picked Luca up from his home and Luca fell back into his training and used his SAR skills to search for the missing man. Luca alerted at an opening of brush at the Trinity River, which led to a very steep hill followed by a steep dropoff. Due to terrain, a PD helicopter responded and immediately observed the lost man in the river, stuck in waist-high mud on the opposite bank of the river where Luca alerted. Officers shed their gear, swam across the river, rescued the man and brought him to safety. Had Luca not tracked the man’s trail and located him, the man would have drowned in the river, which still had very cold, high, fast-paced water or succumbed to the temperature. Luca’s love and dedication to SAR shows the resilience of older dogs and how training doesn’t go away just because they retire. “
In both the semifinal and final rounds of the competition, the winners will be determined through a combination of votes by the general public and a special celebrity judging panel. The top dogs in each category will win $2,500 for their designated charity partner and the winning 2017 American Hero Dog’s charity partner will receive an additional $5,000 for a grand total of $7,500. Each charity partner is dedicated to advancing the role of dogs in our lives and, as with American Humane, focuses on the importance of the human-animal bond.
The seven categories for 2017 are: Law Enforcement/Arson Dogs, sponsored by the K-9 Courage Program from Zoetis; Military Dogs, sponsored by the K-9 Courage Program from Zoetis; Therapy Dogs, sponsored by Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food, the official pet food of the 2017 Hero Dog Awards; Service Dogs, sponsored by Modern Dog magazine; Emerging Hero Dogs, a category that pays tribute to ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, maker of NexGard (afoxolaner) Chewables; Search and Rescue Dogs; and Guide/Hearing Dogs.
Over the past six years, Americans have cast millions of votes for more than a thousand dogs, all seeking the coveted title of American Hero Dog. The program reaches more than one billion people each year and draws the support and participation of top celebrity dog lovers from all over the world. Hosts, judges, award presenters, and entertainment acts have included Katharine McPhee, Alison Sweeney, Bindi Irwin, Derek Hough, Michelle Beadle, Victoria Stilwell, Betty White, Whoopi Goldberg, Denise Richards, Gary Sinise, Burt Reynolds, Chelsea Handler, Martin Short, Jewel, Wilson Phillips, John Ondrasik, Carson Kressley, Miranda Lambert, Pauley Perrette, Kristen Chenoweth, Naomi Judd, Lori Loughlin, Lea Thompson, Eric Stonestreet, Fred Willard, Danica McKellar, Bailee Madison, among others.
“For thousands of years, mankind has had a special relationship with dogs, and the American Humane Hero Dog Awards are our way of honoring the best of our best friends,” said Dr. Robin Ganzert, American Humane president and CEO. “This unique awards show celebrates the unbreakable human-animal bond, which has been a core part of our organization’s mission since 1877.”
“The Hero Dog Awards recognize some of America’s bravest heroes on both ends of the leash,” said philanthropist and presenting sponsor Lois Pope. “From those who defend our country to those who help us heal, guide us, protect us, and help find the lost, every single contender exemplifies the courage and heroism we seek to spotlight in this campaign. Our goal is not only to honor these magnificent dogs but to inspire America to reflect on the outsized contributions that animals make in our lives each and every day.”
Key dates for the 2017 American Humane Hero Dog Awards contest include:
• Second-round voting: May 17 – June 28
• Third-round voting: July 12 – August 30
• American Humane Hero Dog Awards event in Los Angeles – September 16
http://herodogawards.org/
Here’s where you vote for Luca:
http://herodogawards.org/dog/luca/