Robin's Nest from American Humane - Paws, Purpose & Heroism

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

This week on Robin’s Nest, we celebrate courage, loyalty, and the incredible bond between humans and dogs with four remarkable past winners of the American Humane Hero Dog Awards. From lifesaving rescues to inspiring acts of service and companionship, these extraordinary canine heroes and their devoted handlers share unforgettable stories that prove why dogs truly are man’s best friend. Join Robin as she welcomes these inspiring guests for a heartwarming episode filled with hope, heroism and wagging tails.

Welcome to Robin's Nest. Many of us feel a deep bond with animals, from the pets we cherish at home to the endangered species in nature. Join us for lively, informative conversations where together we will build a more humane world. Today, we're honored to share the story of a true four-legged hero, Sergeant Bo,

the 2025 American Humane Hero Dog Award winner, and his devoted handler, Faye O'Kert. Faye, welcome. to our American Humane Sanctuary, and you're here with Sergeant Bo, the 2025 American Humane Hero Dog. Congratulations. Thank you, and thank you for having us and all that you do for the hero dogs and other animals around the world. First of all, you are a hero as a police officer serving your great community, then going in and serving in the schools where we know kids are traumatized. It's a very different environment today in a school than it was when I was being

raised and you were being raised. And then, of course, you know, you're going to be partnered with the dog. You see him. He's not exactly what you looked for, but you got him anyway, because she said he's going back home with you, the trainer. She did. And then you're going to take him to schools, and he's already got a second chance story. So I just love, I love the love of this. And right there, that's the whole mission of the Hero Dog Awards. But there's something else, friends, that you must here and this goes into the heart of what makes this dog and this woman so special to me. And be prepared, have a tissue route, because I want Faye to tell us the story of the Covenant school shooting tragedy. So he came to work for us January of 2023. So I'd had him three months

when on March 27th of 2023, we had a school shooting in Nashville at the Covenant School. We had not been there prior. So we heard the call, well, we heard the call go out. Everybody starts that way. And we knew that we would be somewhere. So we went and waited until we figured out where the kids were going. And so they asked us, as soon as the buses arrived at the church where the kids were going to be reunited, they asked us to get on the school buses. So you can imagine, I'm like, I've had the dog three months. He was only six months off of being astray on the streets. That in itself shows that it doesn't take a lot of training. It doesn't take.

It takes the basics and a dog that can love. So when the buses got there, we get on the buses with the kids. And he walked right up on the bus like a trooper, like he had done it every day. And you instantly could see the kid's direction towards him. And you could just feel the tension when you got on the bus and it changed. when he got on there. So we explained to him what was going on, and we actually had smiles,

if you can believe that, after what they had been through. A horrific school shooting. So too many children have faced. Three died that day, three children died and three adults died that day. Six people lost their lives. Yep.

So we got off the buses. We actually made it to the end of the building where the kids were going to come in before the kids ever... before the kids ever got there. And so we greeted each and every kid, each and every student, they got off the bus, and staff members.

We kind of forget about the staff sometimes. Can't forget about the staff. They're the heartbeat. People always say the police were the heroes that day. No, the staff was the hero that day because they're the ones that kept more the numbers down because they did what they needed to do. So everybody greeted them,

and we spent the rest of the afternoon, and it seemed like it was forever in the room with the kids. and they were all divided up into classes and grades. And we walked around, and he'd lay down with a group of kids. And he had trading cards. And there were probably kids that had six or seven months because they'd come back and get more and more. And I had pictures where, I mean, they just laid on top of him.

It's amazing what he did that day. I remember one teacher coming up, and we had sat with a student. And she said, oh, he needed that so much. I don't know why, because she didn't say that, because they all needed it. Then we had one student. They came and got me and they said, can you come and sit with our friends?

She's really upset. And she couldn't find her sister. So he did an amazing job that day. And so did you. I give him the credit, though. I did him the credit. We didn't stop. I didn't realize it until afterwards I got to thinking about it.

We never took a break. I gave him some water. And we stayed for hours. We stayed until the very last person left the church. It wasn't until the, the last student was gone that you could I couldn't tell who was staff and who was students I didn't know anybody and when the kids were gone you could tell then who the staff was so we stayed for them and their families and until the last person and then I had made a promise that

when they went back to school that we would be there and we were when they came back they were going back to a church because they obviously couldn't go back into their building and I knew the impact we made because we were standing there waiting for the kids and they were getting out of the car and they were coming up to him calling him by name and hugging him and I'm like you just went through what you went through but you remember a dog's name of course you know and then I had parents getting out of the car and they were telling me that they were telling me that their child didn't come home and talk about what happened that day their child came home talking about this dog named sergeant beau and they were all happy to meet sergeant beau so we've kind of made it uh we've made it uh we've made it uh we've made

made it our mission. We go back. Some week, but it, we started out. It was a few times a week, but even now we're not with the police department. We drive about an hour each week to make sure we go each week. Because, I know on the first year's anniversary,

it was the day of, it was a job. It was a job for us. It didn't know anybody. Sure, you know, it's hard. But now it's not a job their family, and we've become part of their family. And you just can't ask for a better relationship with kids and a dog and the things that he did that day. I mean, when we talk about unconditional love and the love that he showed them, and then I have to sit and think that six

months prior to that, he was roaming the streets. Well, Faye, thank you for being here in Robbins Nest. We're so proud to know them. Thank you for having us. Congratulations, Sergeant Bo. Today on Robbins Nest, I have the privilege of speaking with Sergeant David Rowland of the Gastonia Police Department in North Carolina. David is Bow's handler, the remarkable blood and this year's Hero Dog Award winner. David, congratulations for you and Bo, Hero Dog of the Year, Bo, an incredible representation of the best of the bloodhounds, right? The best of the K-9 units. And I know everyone in Gastonia, North Carolina is cheering you on. Congratulations on this great win. Thank you so much for having us and honoring Bo and his story. We really,

we really appreciate this opportunity to shine a light on him. Well, it's shining on the light just not for him, but for all canines working in law enforcement, too. But what a great story of heroes, what we always say, David, on both ends of the leash. And I don't want you to blush on that, but it's really the case because, you know, it's really an incredible story. So can you share with our listeners here in Robbins Nest today about this great story of you and Bo coming together and your work at the Kastonia, North Carolina, police department. So Bo had literally just got certified. This would have been in October of 2023,

so he's around eight months old at this point. Eight months old. Oh, yeah, eight months old. And so we get a phone call. I had just put my kids to bed. And literally got my phone out. We're going to start scrolling through social media like every adult does now, right? Yes.

And I get a phone call from the night shift commander letting me know, hey, this is what we got. There is an autistic child in a very large residential neighborhood. And it's very sad that the child was in a foster home and just found out that he was being adopted. And it triggered the child. I guess he had gotten comfortable with the foster family. So it was very heartbreaking. So he wasn't going to be adopted by that foster family.

Somebody else. So he was, yeah, so it crushed him. It crushed him. And he had an episode and ran out of the house. the foster file in their tried to find him, couldn't locate him. They called some neighbors. The neighbors came together. Everybody started looking for this child and no one could find him.

I get called to the scene about an hour and a half after the fact, after they put drones in the air, trying to use heat signatures, if I can't find anything, this couldn't find anything in the neighborhood. So Bo gets there. We are giving, he got a pillow sheet or a pillowcase sheet. Yes. And we put that there at the back door where the last point he was seen. So Bo is introduced to that odor.

So not only is Bo having to look for that odor, but he's also having to discriminate against the other odors that are there, which is the foster father, the foster mother, the neighbors, other police officers on the area. Oh, my goodness. So there was about 30 people that Bo had to discriminate against those sins. And by that means you're just eliminating all their sins and focusing on the child's scent. Yeah, yeah. So we call it, yeah, we call it.

voter discrimination. Yes. And that's something that, you know, they're tested on every year. All canines are when they get certified. Yes. So, you know, Bo's introduced to that and we work it and work it and work it. And eventually we get to a patch of the yard. I'm like, has anybody went through this path?

And the officer on scene is like, not that I know of. And Bo takes off. And we track a couple streets over. You know, when we get to a backyard and there's some animals outside. So we have to work through that. We eventually get to a creek. track through a creek. Oh, my.

And we get out onto another road. At this point, we have something called perimeter officers. And perimeter officers are basically officers. They stay in their patrol car. They activate their blue lights to that way. If anybody's there, they kind of stop. They lay down. They don't move.

So we have perimeter officers in the area. And we're coming up into this backyard heading to the main street. And there's an officer that's right in front of us at this intersection of this main street. And I'm on the radio asking, at this point, I got. of drone following us at this point if they see anything around us because bow goes something called head up head up meaning odor is in the air meaning fresh odor because our scent on our body likes to it goes up in the air because it's hot hot air rises right so when dogs are popping their heads up like that that means that they're in odor we call it a scent pool right and so I'm like hey you know he's

he's head up you got anything so I'm on the radio I'm talking the guys got flashlights looking everywhere because, you know, it's 1130 at night. And next thing I know about 30 yards in front of us, there's some Halloween decorations, and the kid was hiding behind the Halloween decorations, which has a light in it. So that's why our thermal sensors couldn't distinguish between it. So he's hiding in this Halloween decoration. He takes off running, and our perimeter officer's right there and was able to stop him and calm him down. Bo went over, and, you know, we let him pet Boe for a little bit until the foster family got there and was able to take custody of him. Really, Bo saved his life because you can know, tell him what could have happened.

No, just like literally there was, I was, we're there because Bo's never heard, Bose never heard coyotes. And there was coyotes, howling and yelping. And if you never heard coyotes yelping, when they're in a pack, it makes it feel like there's a hundred of them out there. Yes. Just the way their voices are. Yes. And so Bo was just freaked out by that.

But literally it was in a field right next to the house that we were in right on the other side of this creek. So, you know, the kid could have, you know, just the kid could have, you know, drowned because the creek was pretty deep. He could have got lost into a large patch of woods that's there where those coyotes were and it was frigid temperatures and stuff. So there's really no telling when these children are having these episodes,

they could really fall and get hurt. They're not thinking clearly. It's just, you know, it's a tragedy. Yeah, 100%. They're a child, and this child is on the spectrum. And what I love, love, love is that it was Boe. Yeah. At eight months old, paying it forward.

And you as a father, getting that call. late at night tune that had to really, it's a good feeling to save a child, isn't it? 100%. Yeah. It's, when we find people with these dogs, it's one of the best feelings in the world. It's like jumping out of an airplane every time we find somebody. It's just everything that we've sacrificed and done all the training that we've went through

in that moment. It's like it was worth it. Yes. Well, that story itself gives me goosebumps. And it's one of the many reasons that Bo won this very prestigious award. So thank you for all you do and thank you for serving for your community so beautifully. And importantly, thanks for being a representative to pay it forward for other canines as well, that they serve as these important ambassadors in our hometowns.

Yeah, well, thank you guys for, you know, American Humane, you, all the staff, for giving us this platform, giving us this crutch as we were talking about. earlier for our department to lean on, you know, to be that bridge between the community and law enforcement. So thank you guys and thank you for telling both stories. It's, it means the world to us. We're here today with Kelly Brownfield. She is the 2024 pet parent handler of Maverick. Maverick is the U.S.O therapy dog who claimed top honors in our 2023 hero dogs. I'm so happy, Kelly, to have you with us. Thank you so very much. Thank you for having that.

You share with us that Maverick is a U.S.O. Therapy Dog. And in that role, he sits with the families of the fallen. Please tell us what that means. So it touches my heart every time. And I don't care if it's raining or sunny. I have to have those sunglasses on when I'm working with them out there. And when he's sitting with families of the fallen, we team up. and they will actually escort.

Maverick will sit by that child's side or children if there's multiple kids during the service members burial. So this is a Gold Star family type of situation where a service member's been lost in the line of duty. Absolutely. And they have children. And that funeral has to be so confusing and so emotional and so tragic for the child.

And there you are with this gentle giant. You know, I always say he's there to be their rock. And when that parent sees, this is the USO K-9, it almost gives them a sense of relief to where they can take time to focus on something else. You know, because there's so much going on during that day. And I always give each child, Maverick's child, challenge coin, his military hoist. And I always say if you need anything or if you're having

a hard time during the service, just squeeze it. And I can't tell you how many times I just see the children just squeeze in. But Maverick will literally back up and sit on the chair next to them and you'll just see the child holding on to him literally vying their rock. And then at times we also get requests from families of the fallen where they've never seen their loved ones tombstone in place. And that's the first time that they see the maim on that headstone. Oh, my. A very emotional time. And so we'll get requests for Maverick to escort the children to the gravesite and sit with that child.

Why they process that moment? because seeing that the maim and stone makes it real in a way. So we usually will lay Maverick down with a child a lot of times to fain on their age. Sometimes that child will write a therapeutic letter to that fallen, whether it be a father, mother, sister, or brother, and just write a letter while leaning on Maverett. And we give them all the time they need, but it is one of the most important missions, I believe. Let's need it.

I would agree with you so much, and it's not just Maverick doing this work, Kelly. You are too. Such an angel, such an angel. There's another group of people that you and Maverick help. It's incredible. Those who are on suicide water. are wounded warriors facing PTSD and TBI, and they're on suicide watch.

Tell me, what do you and Maverick do in those cases? You know, I think that is the most, it's hard. You go in and as one soldier told me, that's when she realized the true meaning of unconditional love. She had been in there a little bit, and no one, she wasn't. accepting any visitors, anything.

But she didn't know we were there for her because I'm allowed to go to the ward at any time. Yes. And we were asked to go see her. And I just remember her seeing Maverick. Maverick shone

up on the couch with her. And just her holding him and just rocking. And just to see that rock. And it was a emotional, like no words had to be spoken. And it was a couple years later, that specific

soldier came to the U.S.O to thank me. Oh, that. And that's when she told me the moment she saw and had Maverick in her arms was when she realized what unconditional love was supposed to be. Isn't that beautiful? And that she was actually processing out of the military, that she wanted to come by and make sure that we knew how important that moment was in her life. And that was the moment that chose her mindset. Yes. And that made her want to take the sense to get better. It was incredible.

I know that you've inspired so many people through sharing and we're grateful. Today we're focusing on one of the most remarkable dogs in the entire world. Ethan, the 2022 American Humane Hero Dog Award winner in the Shelter Dog category and his handler, Jeff. Welcome, Jeff and Ethan. Not sure if we can hear Ethan, maybe some barking and panting. We love you, Ethan. Welcome. Hey, Dr. Robin. How are you doing? Thanks for having us on. Oh, my gosh. It wouldn't be our wonderful podcast without you guys, for sure. Oh, my goodness. Jeff's so proud to know you. So proud to know, Ethan.

And my goodness, you have such a great story to tell, so many lessons we can learn. And importantly, you have been an agent for change for animals. And I'm so, again, proud to know you. And congratulations for being our hero dog of the year. Jeff, there's so much to know about you and Ethan. Please tell us all your story. Well, Ethan's story is really pretty remarkable. So many little small things had to go right along the way just for him to even live, really.

His life started by being abused. He was starved. He was deprived of water. He was left for long periods of time in a small confined space where he couldn't get up. He had pressure sores on his legs that were down to the bone where he wasn't able to move. Thankfully, mercifully, someone who knew the condition he was in went and took him. thinking that they could help Ethan. And they took him to their house.

I think they thought they were going to clean him up and save him. And they dousing with Don Lishwaq. Don dishwashing liquid trying to clean him up. And then quickly realized he was in much worse shape than they even imagined and that they were going to have a dead dog on their hands pretty soon. So they loaded him in their car. And on a cold January day in 2021, they brought him to the Kentucky Maine Society parking.

lot where they pulled in a spot. They threw out a urine and feces covered bed. And then they threw Ethan on top of it and they drove off. I'm sure thinking that if he wasn't dead already, he was going to be dead in a few minutes. But there was a wonderful family who was who was coming by that day to drop donations off to the Kentucky Maine Society. And as they were pulling out of the parking lot, their son who was, I believe he was 11 at the time, Tatum, he saw Ethan in the parking line and alerted his parents who called our phone number. It was during COVID, so the building was closed to the general public. And we had a staff member who rushed out there and without even thinking twice, scooped him up, brought him into the vet area. And when she came through the door, their first thought

was that, you know, this dog was dead. And there's really nothing we can do for him. And then he took a breath. And that's really when the real life saving began. They somehow got him stable. You know, They had to use a kitten needle. His veins were so dehydrated. They had to use a kitten needle just to get some fluids in him. So they get him stable. He goes home with a vet tech that night on an IV. And he begins seizing in the middle of the night.

And so she loads him in the car, rushing him to the hospital, stopping at every red light, every stop sign, and just reaching in the back seat just to see if he was still breathing. He gets to the hospital. And he ends up being at the hospital for five days. He comes back to KHS still, at that point, still unable to walk. And so my story with Ethan really began the first few minutes that he was dropped off. They called me and said, Jeff, someone dropped a dead dog off in the parking lot.

Can you check the cameras? So I checked the cameras. I find a car. But through sort of the rumor mill of the shelter, I heard that he was still alive. And so I thought I would check in. And so I popped my head into the vet area. And they were taking care of him up on the wet table.

And there was something about him at that moment. I just knew he was my dog. You know, maybe people know what I'm talking about. But I saw him and I thought, you know, this is my dog. And so I let them do their work. And I started texting the vet later that night. asking how he was doing. That's when they told me that they had named him Ethan. And she said, Jeff, you know, all weekend long, she kept telling me, Jeff, don't get your hopes up.

This dog is, you know, is not going to make it. He's not doing well. You know, but each day he got just a little bit better and a little bit better. And I thought, you know, this dog has not had any love in his entire life. And I was just going to make sure before he passed away, he was going to know that somebody cared about him. And that that sort of began. I kind of like to think of Ethan's life in like three different things. You know, the first part of his life, he was abused and mistreated. And then he had a second part of life where he was just a fight to stay alive.

And then he became a part of our family. We adopted and we became a part of our family. And his story just connected with so many people that we, you know, continue to social media. And I just wanted all these people to be able to follow his story. Because Ethan has gotten so popular and people just love his story and they're so drawn to him, we began to do some advocacy for some better animal welfare laws in Kentucky. And so we visit the state Capitol.

And we'll go and watch the House in session. We'll watch the Senate in session. Jeff, I saw pictures of you with the governor of Kentucky and Ethan. That was a wonderful photo. When we came back from Florida from the American Humane Hero Dog Awards Gala, and Ethan had him won. The governor's office reached out and wanted to know if they could do something for Ethan. And so, you know, we had some conversations about it back and forth about what would be the best way to honor him.

And so the governor named January Ethan Almighty Shelter Animal Awareness Month. Oh, my goodness. Say that again. Ethan Almighty. Ethan Almighty Shelter Animal Awareness Month in the state of Kentucky. That is wonderful. And so a whole month devoted to our incredible, amazing, Ethan. I love that. Yeah, and we came down to Frankfurt to meet with the governor

and brought over 100 people with us. And the plan was just to kind of meet with the governor in his office. And so many people came that he felt compelled to come out into the rotunda to sort of give a speech and welcome everybody and thank everybody for coming and talk about what a great representative of, of Kentucky and shelter animals that Ethan is. Just recently, just this week, we found out that there is a hotel in downtown Louisville that we've designed a banner that's going to go up 60 foot long, about 20 foot tall of Ethan

as such a proud representative of Louisville and of Kentucky. I love that. That's so wonderful. That is, you know, the purpose of the American Humane Hero Dog Awards now in his 13th year is to celebrate these amazing, amazing dogs who have lived an extraordinary life and have made a difference. And the story of Ethan coming back what a fighter he is, a fighter for his own life, and then to pay it forward with you sharing this platform with so many other people. And importantly, the family of Ethan is actually

paying it forward with medical expenses for other dogs in need. And today, Jeff, I'm so proud to tell you because we're always so touched by the story of what Kentucky Humane Society did for Ethan, that we are issuing a second chance grant in Ethan's honor to Kentucky Humane Society so that they can pay for the next animal. No, thank you. That needs emergency medical care. So that grant will be issued on behalf of American Humane Second Chance Grant Fund and pay it forward for Ethan at Kentucky Humane. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. You know, the things that you see done in shelters is just amazing.

But it takes people and it takes volunteers and it takes staff and it takes donations and it takes everything to come together to really help these animals that are in shelters. Wonderful stories, wonderful people. wonderful magical heroes on both ends the leash, just like you. Jeff, thank you so much for being in Robbins Nest today. We look forward to seeing you on the Red Carpet at the Hero Dog Awards. Thank you so much. Thank you for tuning in to Robbins Nest. We want to hear what you think.

Please make sure to review the podcast on your podcast platform. Watch for upcoming episodes that will include new and exciting discussions. If you love animals, you'll love this season of Robins Nest. Thank you.