# Animal Planet Hero of the Year

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-planet-hero-of-the-year/510331>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 16, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-planet-hero-of-the-year/510331 "2009-09-16T15:30:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-planet-hero-of-the-year/510331/1 "2009-09-16T15:30:05Z")

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The Animal Planet website is having people vote for Hero of the Year. The winner gets a lot of money donated to their cause, so your vote makes a difference.

Why am I mentioning this here? Because I am privileged to call one of the nominees a friend. Jessica Gotthold is one of the most amazing people I know, just incredible.

Her bio on the [site](http://animal.discovery.com/roar/hero-of-the-year/nominees/) (she’s on the second slide) doesn’t even begin to give a sense of her crazy life. She is a federal agent who investigates arson. (Her husband is a firefighter; they met while rescuing a goat). She has 30+ cats and a Mastiff/Godzilla mix. She somehow has enough time left over after the job and the pets to run her rescue organization. She fosters cats (that’s how she ended up with so many), traps strays for TNR, hold pet adopta-thons, and is always on call for emergencies. She also does a side gig as the Wrath of God upon animal abusers. Okay, I exagerate some, but you don’t want to mistreat an animal within five miles of her. She once went after some teenage toughs while on crutches- and scared them away.

However you vote, you’ll be helping animals in need. But I urge you to vote for Jessica Gotthold.

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**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animal-planet-hero-of-the-year/510331/2 "2009-09-20T04:46:54Z")

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I tried to vote, but it’s only open to US residents. Good cause though, and she sounds amazing.