The American Humane Hero Dog Awards selected a dog from Hilton as the "Shelter Dog of the Year" in its national competition.


What You Need To Know

  • MacKenzie is a 4-pound Chihuahua from Hilton

  • She was selected as the "Shelter Dog of the Year" in the American Humane Hero Dog Awards

  • MacKenzie beat the odds of surviving a cleft palate and lung infections

  • MacKenzie is one of seven hero dogs that'll be featured in a two-hour show on the Hallmark Channel

What does it take to be a hero dog? 

MacKenzie is a 4-pound Chihuahua with a heart of gold.

"I got MacKenzie when she was one day old and she had to be tube-fed," said Sue Rogers, MacKenzie's owner.

MacKenzie beat the odds of surviving a cleft palate and lung infections. Rogers runs The Mia Foundation for unwanted and disabled animals. She says she couldn't do it without help from MacKenzie. 

"Well, the one thing I noticed about MacKenzie is that even though she had her own problems she was always more concerned about the other dogs. Always mothering them and checking on them. We had a baby squirrel, a goat, a donkey, and hundreds of puppies, kittens, and birds and she mothered all of them," Rogers said.

MacKenzie is one of seven hero dogs that'll be featured in a two-hour American Humane Hero Dog Awards show on the Hallmark Channel this fall.

"She is so loving and so kind. She does school programs. She's just amazing. She's obviously never had puppies, but she was born to nurture and born to mother," Rogers added.

You can vote for MacKenzie once a day through September 10 at herodogawards.org.