Catch Des Plaines hero dog on TV Friday night
What's been dubbed the Golden Globes for dogs will be broadcast Friday night on the Hallmark Channel featuring Des Plaines' own hero dog, Zurich.
The inaugural American Humane Association 2011 Hero Dog Awards, celebrating the contributions of service dogs, airs at 7 p.m. The awards ceremony took place Oct. 1 in Los Angeles.
Nearly a million votes were cast in the contest to choose the year's top Hero Dog. Zurich was among eight finalists selected out of more than 450 dogs nationwide.
The 9-year-old yellow Labrador retriever has been the constant companion of Des Plaines resident Patti Kennedy for seven years.
Kennedy, 65, suffers from a rare degenerative brain stem disorder known as multiple system atrophy, or Shy-Drager syndrome. She is confined to her power chair or bed most of the time and cannot move or speak.
The 90-minute special includes the awards ceremony, backstage interviews with the stars, and the after party. Carson Kressley, an Emmy Award-winning television star, celebrity stylist, author and fashion designer, hosts the event.
"I cannot tell you how excited we are to watch that," said Kennedy's husband, Dion Luper. "We were behind the stage obviously when everything was happening. We never really saw the full tribute video. It's certainly a once in a lifetime thing."
While Luper won't be throwing a viewing party, he said his parents and a few neighbors are coming over to watch Zurich's red-carpet moment and the family accepting the award together onstage.
The nation's top Hero Dog Award for 2011 was posthumously given to Roselle, a guide dog who helped his handler get down the 1,463 stairs of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Zurich, who was trained as a helper dog by Canine Companions for Independence, received a nearly 1 foot-high brass dog statuette. The trophy, designed by world renowned sculptor Liza Todd-Tivey, was given to all the finalists as a tribute to the first responder dogs of Sept. 11.
Luper said he has kept in touch with the seven other award recipients' families since the ceremony.
"We all felt that if a person decides to get a service dog because of seeing this video, that will truly be the biggest award," he said.