2007 Minnesota Animal Hall of Fame Awards

Companion Animal Award  -Animals who have provided a benefit to their human companions or their community

Companion Award Winner –  Chopper     Owned by Pat & Chuck Kinch

Chopper is a Rottweiler who has been trained as a therapy dog.  He passed his Therapy Dog International certification in 2005 at the age of 2.  Chopper began work visiting hospitals and nursing homes, belying the negative reputation of his breed.  From there his owner, Pat Kinch, began taking him with her to work at an Eden Prairie elementary school regularly, where the children would read to him, with him offering both literal and figurative support.  His success at the school was apparent not only by the eager and smiling faces of the students, but by the progress made by reluctant readers he was with.  When his owner Chuck Kinch started radiation therapy for cancer, Chopper went along.  There, at Abbott Hospital Radiation Center, Chopper bonded with Trent Brelje, a seven year old boy being treated for cancer.  Chopper began accompanying Trent to his radiation treatments, making a once anxiety filled experience something to now look forward to.  After 3 months of remission, another tumor was found in Trent’s brain.  Chopper showed up to help Trent through his next appointment, and as Trent said “Chopper helped me concentrate on having fun with him, and helped me forget about my hurts and pains”.  In his work Chopper offers friendship, comfort, love and help to those in need.   Chopper’s veterinarian is Dr. Arlo Frost.

Hero Animal Award - Animals who have saved or preserved human life

Hero Award Winner  -  Trouble    Owned by  Maureen Hasan

Trouble is a calico cat who was taken in by her owner, Maureen, after both Maureen’s husband and mother passed away.  Maureen is a type one diabetic, and must use an insulin pump.  Her diabetes has been a difficult challenge in her life, and sometimes no matter how hard she tries, she still has low blood sugars.  In the middle of the night Maureen’s blood sugar has been known to drop dangerously low.  Somehow, when this happens, Trouble knows that her owner’s blood sugar is too low, and is relentless in trying to wake her up. Trouble will continue to push at her owner’s upper arm and purr, or even walk across her chest and back, until Maureen wakes up and takes her blood-testing machine in her hands.  Trouble has done this many times over the past 9 years she and her owner have been living together, and continues to do so, a real life saver for Maureen.  If it wasn’t for Trouble’s efforts, Maureen could possibly go into a coma.  Trouble is now suffering from thyroid cancer and takes medication daily under the loving care of Dr. Mary Olson of the East Central Veterinarians in Cambridge, Minnesota.

Professional Animal Award-  Animals especially trained to assist humans

Professional Award Winner  -      Sidney      Owned by Jennifer Troy

Sidney is a black male Labrador retriever who is a trained therapy response dog and is training in the areas of Canine Disaster Relief and Trauma response.  Sidney is also in training with Puppy Love Caring Canines to be an assistance dog for his human owner, Jennifer Troy.  Sidney is one of the first canines to be a member of the University of Minnesota Medical Reserve Corps Mental Health Crisis Response Team.  Most recently, Sidney responded to the 35W bridge collapse, becoming a part of the Incident Command structure and helping with his owner, Jennifer, at the Family Assistance center - offering solace and encouragement to officers and workers dealing with the collapse.  Since the bridge collapse, Sidney and Jennifer have provided support in Northwood, North Dakota following an F5 tornado disaster, interacting with children and teachers after their school collapsed, in addition to other relief workers and community members.   Sidney has been a pioneer in human training as he has attended seminars for human disaster response workers and has opened the door for humans to learn more about the human animal bond and its role in disaster relief and trauma response work.  Sidney and Jennifer will play a significant role in a Minneapolis VA Medical Center study on “Animal Assisted Therapy as an Adjunct to Group Interventions for Veterans in Outpatient Psychiatric Care” which will provide important statistical data on the human animal bond.  Sidney’s accomplishments are numerous, and he will continue his partnership with Jennifer as her assistance dog, and as an animal assisted educator, therapy, and disaster relief dog.  Sidney’s veterinarian is Dr. Paul Rapnicki.