The ASPCA Picks Top Cat for 2007

Winnie the cat received The ASPCA Cat of the Year Award.

Winnie, a 14-year-old American shorthair from New Castle, Ind., was named the ASPCA Cat of the Year for saving her family’s life. On the night of March 24, 2007, Eric and Cathy Keesling and their son Michael were asleep when Winnie jumped on Eric and Cathy’s bed. She began meowing wildly and bumping Cathy’s ear.

“She started screaming and scratching,” Cathy said shortly before the ASPCA ceremony. “She kept going until I got up.” Winnie was making a unique meow resembling a fire alarm that she had uttered just once before — shortly before a tornado hit the area, according to Cathy.

Cathy woke nauseated and dizzy — and unable to rouse her husband. It took her nearly an hour before she could muster the strength to call 911. Emergency responders found Michael unconscious on his bedroom floor. He had thrown up several times and was blue.

The three were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a leak in the house. The family received oxygen, and has since recovered, thanks to Winnie’s rescue efforts.

“Winnie stepped in and knew something was wrong,” Cathy said. “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be talking.”

The Keeslings were visiting New York for the first time.

The ASPCA Dog of the Year, Toby, saved his owner Debbie Parkhurst from choking to death. Parkhurst, who hails from North East, Md., was eating an apple when it became lodged in her throat, causing her to choke. According to Parkhurst, her Golden Retriever Toby, normally a happy-go-lucky dog, pushed her to the ground and began jumping on her chest.

“At first I was thinking, Toby this isn’t really a good time to play,” Parkhurst recalled. Parkhurst, 46, says sheer panic began to set in. “It seemed like four hours went by.”

Luckily, Toby’s improvised Heimlich maneuver dislodged the apple from her throat.

Sixth-grader Rachel Distefano from Southhampton, N.Y., was named the ASPCA Kid of the Year for her efforts to save horses from slaughter. She works by her mother’s side at the Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue in Sagaponack, N.Y., feeding, brushing and bathing the horses. To date, the ASPCA reports that 51 horses have been saved since the rescue’s inception.

William H. Smith, III from the Wakefield neighborhood in New York City’s Bronx borough is the ASPCA’s Firefighter of the Year. Smith rescued two frightened pets, a cat and a Dachshund, from a burning Bronx apartment on June 24, 2007. He carried one under each arm. Smith, whose Pit Bull, Mitch, was a close companion until his death last year, says he’s rescued all types of animals in his 25 years with the fire department. He’s seen a cat jump from six stories up and turtles walk away from a fire. But dogs, he says, are often in a more “precarious condition” because they can’t maneuver like felines.

Smith’s department also recognized him with a medal of bravery for his efforts to save the animals.

The ASPCA Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award went to Deputy Dwight Sloan of Jefferson County, Ala. Sloan is an animal cruelty investigator and launched a full-scale investigation after a horse was shot while grazing in a pasture. Sloan helped raise a $10,000 reward, which led to the arrest, confession and conviction of the person responsible.

Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, received the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award. (Bergh founded the ASPCA.) La Russa and his wife, Elaine, founded the Animal Rescue Foundation, an organization that works to find homes for companion animals who have run out of time at public shelters.

The ASPCA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Bill Smith of Valley Forge, Penn. Smith started the Main Line Animal Rescue in 1997. The nonprofit has since rescued and found homes for thousands of animals, including special needs and elderly pets.

The ASPCA selected a committee to choose the honorees after receiving hundreds of nominations earlier this year.