Public Voting Opens to Choose Finalists for 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards

America’s animal lovers have spoken, and after more than half a million votes from across the country, 21 courageous canines are advancing to the semifinal rounds of the 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards®, sponsored by the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation and Zoetis, and broadcast nationally on Hallmark Channel.

The public is now invited to visit www.HeroDogAwards.org to vote once per day until July 11th 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 eighth annual Hero Dog Awards gala on September 29 at the Beverly Hilton, where one will be chosen as the 2018 American Hero Dog, the top honor a dog can receive! In addition, the top dogs in each category will win $2,500 for their designated charity partner and the winning 2018 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 powerful connection between people and animals.

The seven categories for 2018 are:

* Service Dogs, sponsored by Modern Dog magazine

* Law Enforcement/Arson Dogs, sponsored by K-9 Courage from Zoetis

* Military Dogs, sponsored by the K-9 Courage from Zoetis

* Therapy Dogs, sponsored by Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food

* Emerging Hero Dogs, a category that pays tribute to ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things

* Search and Rescue Dogs

* Guide/Hearing Dogs

New judges for the 2018 Hero Dog Awards campaign include a variety of celebrity dog lovers including: Miranda Lambert, Kristin Chenoweth, Carson Kressley, Carrie Ann Inaba, 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.

You can meet the 21 incredible Hero Dog Awards semifinalists over the coming weeks by following Modern Dog on Facebook and Instagram and by checking back to Moderndogmagazine.com for semi-finalist profiles!

For more information about the 2018 American Humane Hero Dog Awards®, and to vote daily in the contest, please visit www.herodogawards.org. For more information on sponsorship opportunities email Mari Harner at marih@americanhumane.org  or call 1-800-227-4645.

** All voting rounds open and close at 12pm Pacific Time with the final round of voting running from July 25th – September 5th.