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May 6, 2008 5:51 pm US/Pacific
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Shepherd Mix To Be Honored As Hero By SPCALA
LOS ANGELES
When Helene Shaughnessy of San Diego decided to adopt Ellie, a shepherd mix, from a Long Beach animal shelter in 2006, she didn't know it would be a life-saving move.
In October, Ellie woke up her owner to alert her that the Witch Creek wildfire was bearing down on their home.
Ellie, 4, will be honored with the 26th National Hero Dog Award by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles.
The 4-year-old dog usually sleeps downstairs in Shaughnessy's San Diego home. However, on Oct. 21, Ellie woke up Shaughnessey by barking and nuzzling her -- unusual behavior for the normally shy dog.
And though the Witch Creek fire was burning about 20 miles from her home when she went to sleep, the fire was only hundreds of feet away by the time Ellie woke Shaughnessy up.
Shaughnessy quickly collected Ellie and her cats and fled the home, which was destroyed by fire within hours.
The Witch Fire was one of several wildfires that devastated Southern California last fall -- burning 197,000 acres, destroying 1,125 homes and killing two people.
Ellie will be named the spcaLA's National Hero Dog, an award presented to an animal that is not formally trained for rescues or law enforcement.
Jeff Blodgett, spokesman for spcaLA, said the presentation will mark the first time in the history of the award that the honor has been given to a dog adopted from an spcaLA shelter.
Ellie was adopted from the group's Long Beach shelter in August 2006.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)