Ethan the dog wins American Humane Hero Dog Award

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Ethan, a local rescue dog whose story has been shared both locally and nationally, has been recognized by American Humane as the organization’s Hero Dog of the Year.

Back in August, Ethan was placed in the finals and competed against six other dogs to be recognized as this year’s overall Hero Dog of the year.

The awards ceremony took place on Saturday in Palm Beach, Florida, where Ethan was honored at the American Humane Hero Dog Awards gala.

Ethan’s story began in Jan. 2021 after being left for dead within the Kentucky Humane Society’s parking lot. After months of care and recovery, KHS’ facility director Jeff Callaway adopted him.

Callaway shared a message thanking everyone who believed in Ethan and helped in his support.

“When I first saw Ethan in the vet services room, I knew he was my dog,” Callaway said in the post. “In my heart I knew. But I also wasn’t sure he was going to live. Through the day or through the weekend. But I wanted him to know the love of a person. It was obvious he had not. So, I didn’t want him to leave the world without knowing someone loved him. And now, a year and half later, he knows the love of the whole world.”

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Callaway said Ethan’s story has been shared to not only help other shelter dogs across America, but the positive impact has also helped people struggling with things like abuse or drug addiction.

“They saw him, and they saw how much fight and how much resilience he had to live, just to take another breath,” Callaway said. “So they kept fighting.”

Callaway said Ethan continues to encourage other animals that may be facing their own medical problems.

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