Iowa Animal Hall of Fame

Nominate today for Iowa Animal Hall of Fame!
Do you have an exceptional patient?  Maybe it’s a hard-working K9, a service dog or an ordinary pet doing extraordinary things. Whether the animal is saving lives, lending sight or hearing to a human companion or just welcoming your client home with extra love, we want to hear about it!

The Iowa Veterinary Medical Association (IVMA) honors animals and their owners who demonstrate an exceptional human-animal bond through the Iowa Animal Hall of Fame. This program recognizes animals that, through their bravery, companionship, or professional contributions, have made a difference in their community and enriched human lives.

The goals of the Iowa Animal Hall of Fame are:

• To honor the outstanding contributions our animal companions, make to human lives.
• To heighten public awareness of the human-animal bond.
• To allow the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association members to share in celebrating their patients’ accomplishments by serving as nominators.

Since 1998, 65 dogs, 3 horses, 1 cat and 1 cow have been inducted into the Iowa Animal Hall of Fame in one of three categories: Companion, Professional or Hero. Any IVMA member (veterinarian or technician) may nominate an animal to the Iowa Animal Hall of Fame.  Winners are chosen by a selection committee comprised of IVMA leadership and sponsor representatives.

The Iowa Animal Hall of Fame is sponsored by the IVMA and Hill's Pet Nutrition.

Nominate for the Iowa Animal Hall of Fame here.

The deadline for nominations is January 15, 2025.

2024 Iowa Hall of Fame Inductees

Companion Category
 
The winner in the Companion Category is Spiderman, a Greyhound who belonged to Bill and Ruth Staplin of Des Moines.  Spiderman was nominated by Dr. Kristin DeVries of Pet Medical Center of Urbandale.
 
Spiderman spent the first part of his life as a racing Greyhound. When it came time for him to retire, he was matched to be adopted by the Staplin family through Heartland Greyhound Adoption, and this is where he found his second calling.
 
His new owner Bill was dealing with mobility issues and needed a walking partner to help with his physical challenges.  Over time Spiderman became essential to Bill, giving him the motivation to stay on his feet and to continue to work through his physical challenges. In 2020, Spiderman started to experience some mobility issues of his own.  Through it all, Spiderman shared an amazing bond with Bill who was going through similar challenges.  Unfortunately, Spiderman’s health issues progressed, and he passed away at home in October of 2023. The Staplin family said, “Spiderman was a beautiful soul, and he seemed to understand when it was time for him to leave this physical world. But while he was here, he filled our family with happiness.” 
 
 
Professional Category
 
Kae and Story, a pair of Retrievers belonging to Dr. Bob Wesner of Solon are the winners in the Professional Category. Kae and Story were nominated by Dr. Dan Grooms, Dean of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.  The dogs are the patients of Dr. Bill Gay and Dr. Grace Zhang of The Animal Clinic in Iowa City. 
 
Kae and Story both started their career as trainees to be guide dogs for the blind. Unfortunately, they flunked out because they were “too social”. They received a second chance after being adopted by Dr. Bob Wesner and they began accompanying him daily to his psychiatric practice in Iowa City where they were an integral part of his work treating patients with mental health afflictions. Kae and Story continue to help Dr. Wesner’s patients feel safe, secure, and comfortable as they dealt with their illnesses.
 
 
Hero Category
 
The winner in the Hero Category is Stark, a 4-year-old Border Collie and Whippet cross belonging to Dr. Sheri Morrissey of Pleasant Hill.  Stark was nominated by Dr. Bill Williams, who co-owns the Altoona Veterinary Hospital with Dr. Morrissey. 
 
Stark is a skilled Human Remains Search dog and he and Dr. Morrissey train an average of 7 to 9 hours a week to hone their skills. In 2021, Stark became certified to be on the K9 State-Level Urban Search and Rescue Team and in 2022 he became certified as a FEMA K9 for the Federal Urban Search and Rescue. The FEMA certification consisted of passing several skills assessments and certifications, the result of hours and hours of training and practice by Stark and Dr. Morrissey.
 
In the 2 years since Stark became certified, Dr. Morrissey and Stark have been deployed several times.  In January of 2022, they worked 2 days searching the neighborhoods affected by the Marshall Fires in Boulder County, Colorado.  In May of 2022, they were called to help search for a missing Cedar Rapids city worker whose truck was submerged in the Cedar River.  In the Fall of 2022, Stark and Dr. Morrissey were deployed with the FEMA team in the wake of hurricane Ian and spent over a week searching the Fort Myers, FL area.  In June 2023, they spent several days searching after a partial building collapse in Eastern Iowa claimed 3 lives. Stark has also assisted in 3 other local searches at the request of law enforcement. 
 
Dr. Morrissey said, “Although the loss of human life is always very sad, for Stark and other Human Rescue Dogs, they work without emotional baggage.  For Stark, finding his target odor is a game that he loves to play, and he will do so in all kinds of weather, with all kinds of distractions, and on all kinds of surfaces.  He does his work with a giant doggie grin on his face, and he lives to work.”