Oscar is a four-year-old yellow lab who brings comfort to first responders. {Dean Moreno}
An Oscar for Oscar?
This Oscar plays an essential role in the lives of people who genuinely need support, love, and comfort.
Oscar is a four-year-old yellow lab featured in Coral Springs Talk two months ago. He and Dean Moreno, his owner, handler (and human), took home top honors by being named the recipient of the prestigious 2024 Rikki Mitchell Animal Achievement Award, presented annually by the Animal Law Section of the Florida Bar.
Oscar, named a semifinalist in the American Humane Society Hero Dog Award competition, is one of five dogs vying for top honors in the Therapy Dog category.
“It’s a really big deal,” Moreno said, explaining there are five categories, with the top dog in each category going on to compete for the American Hero Dog title. The five categories are Service And Guide, Law Enforcement And First Responder, Emerging Hero, and Shelter, Therapy, and Military.
Two years after the Surfside tragedy, Moreno took a class, and a fellow first responder approached him, saying he remembered them from the disaster. “ ‘You brought Oscar to Surfside,’ “ the person told him. “ ‘It was the first time I smiled in two weeks.’ “
Moreno said, “It’s a gift that keeps giving.”
Not only do Moreno and Oscar respond to emergencies regularly, but he volunteers on his own time to visit schools and even a substance abuse rehab facility for first responders. “No one cares about me. I’m just the dog handler; he makes the difference.”
The Hero Dog Awards website describes the event as an “annual nationwide competition that recognizes the heroes on both ends of the leash.”
Moreno lives in the Beachwood Heights section of Coral Springs and is a firefighter/paramedic with Broward County Fire Rescue in Weston.
He says if Oscar makes it to the finals, it will be a chance for him to highlight the value of these dogs. Each finalist has a video discussing their dog and what they do. “It would help me highlight the importance of mental health,” he said.
He added that the awards ceremonies themselves are fabulous events. “It’s pretty extravagant,” Moreno said. “It’s like the Oscars, but for dogs.”
The semifinalists were announced on Sept. 9, and category winner voting continues through Oct. 9. Winners will be announced on Oct. 15, then the Annual Hero Dog contest commences.
Broward County Fire Rescue paramedic Dean Moreno with Oscar. {courtesy}
Anyone over the age of 18 can vote up to one time daily. Moreno says he’s voted every day. For more information on the American Humane Hero Dog Awards and to cast your vote, visit their website.
The Annual Hero Dog Winner Announcement will be made on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2025, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.
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