Is your dog a hero? American Humane Association’s Hero Dog Awards™ national search kicks off today at www.herodogawards.org.

Patricia N. Olson, D.V.M., has been appointed Chief Veterinary Advisor at American Humane Association, the nation’s voice for the protection of children and animals. Olson, previously the President and Chief Executive Officer of Morris Animal Foundation, will lead a new American Humane Association initiative: Animal Welfare and Research.

Even before the Oscar winners are announced, several Academy Award-nominated films have already earned an important and respected honor: the “No Animals Were Harmed”® certification from American Humane Association, the nation’s voice for the protection of children and animals. American Humane Association’s Certified Animal Safety Representatives™ monitor the treatment of animals on 2,000 productions each year. This year, Oscar-nominated productions that did the right thing by keeping their animal actors safe include “True Grit,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” and “Salt.”

American Humane Association, the nation’s voice for the protection of children and animals, has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) Foundation to help feed hundreds of horses that had been abandoned when a Billings, Mont., ranch was foreclosed upon in July 2010.

A team of staff and volunteers from American Humane Association’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services are working in Arkansas at the request of the Fulton County Sheriff’s office to assist with the rescue of 116 neglected horses.

Ellen Taylor has joined American Humane Association as Director of Animal Welfare & Education, a position in which she will expand and enhance the organization’s work to educate and support animal welfare professionals throughout the United States. Ms. Taylor was previously director of community initiatives for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) based in New York City. Her extensive experience in animal welfare also includes positions as director of animal care services at the Humane Society of South Mississippi, executive director at the Humane Society of El Paso (Texas), director of operations at the Cleveland Animal Protective League, and director of operations and interim executive director at the Larimer Humane Society in Fort Collins, Colo

New York City socialite and handbag designer Tinsley Mortimer, along with Madison Avenue handbag boutique Samantha Thavasa, will host a private event Oct. 13 to celebrate American Humane Association’s Adopt-A-Dog Month®, observed annually in October. The event will kick off a fundraising effort to help abused and neglected animals through the organization’s Second Chance® Fund.

American Humane Association announced today that its farm animal welfare program has endorsed a new method of controlled-atmosphere stunning for poultry called Low Atmospheric Pressure System, or “LAPS,” as a humane practice.

As the wildfire in Boulder, Colo., continues to grow, American Humane Association’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services™, based in Denver, Colo., has deployed to assist Boulder County Animal Control with evacuating animals that have been left behind by their owners in the Sugarloaf Mountain area

GreenScreen Animals (GSA), the Los Angeles-based digital content company, today announced its HD stock footage animal content is now being monitored by the American Humane Association, the only national organization dedicated to protecting animals from abuse and neglect in filmed media