ALVMF Animal Hall of Fame

The Alabama Animal Hall of Fame (AAHOF) was established in 2003 in conjunction with the Alabama Veterinary Medical Foundation (ALVMF), also established that year. The mission of the Foundation is to enhance the well being of animals and the human-animal bond. The AAHOF celebrates this mission by recognizing and honoring animals that have shown extraordinary abilities or remarkable loyalty to their owners. The human-animal bond committee, which organizes the AAHOF each year, is a joint committee between the ALVMA and ALVMF.​

Induction Process
Induction into the AAHOF is for companion or working animals from within the state of Alabama that have demonstrated extraordinary loyalty, courage, service, or intuitive abilities in their relations with humans. Successful nominees demonstrate exceptional ability when compared with similar animals in similar conditions. Documentation attesting to those abilities is necessary, including but not limited to written testimony, media coverage of any type, eyewitness accounts, or documentation from a sponsoring organization. Reasons for nomination vary from single events demonstrating extreme courage or for lifetime achievement. Nominations to the hall can be made by a veterinarian, a client through a veterinarian, the local humane society, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or another animal care agency in Alabama, or by a constituent veterinary, one of fifteen local associations across Alabama that are organized under the Alabama VMA.
​Nominees are included in a nominee pool for three consecutive years. The AAHOF Committee votes on all nominees each year until they are either voted into the hall or are dropped from consideration after three years. An animal that does not receive enough votes for induction in the three-year period may not be nominated again. Inductees are not limited to dogs and cats; other animals inducted include a chicken, two horses, a squirrel monkey, and a golden eagle. All inductees have amazing stories with honorable accomplishments. For example, 2005 nominee Miss Baker, a squirrel monkey, was inducted for her historic May 28, 1959, flight into space aboard the Jupiter rocket with a rhesus monkey, Miss Able, the first mission in which living beings returned alive following a flight in space. Tiger, a golden eagle, was also inducted in 2005.  She flew over Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn before football games from 2000 to 2006.  In addition, she also flew in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
​The 2006 inductee, a dog named Gucci (pictured above), suffered terrible abuse as a puppy and wasn’t expected to live. However, the resilient little dog survived to create media exposure in newspapers, magazines, radio, and local and national television networks, and is credited with helping bring about stricter animal cruelty laws. In May 2000, six years after Gucci’s story became public, the Alabama State Legislature passed a bill making intentional cruelty to domesticated animals a Class C felony, punishable with a prison term of up to ten years. A poodle named Champ was inducted in 2009 for detecting cancer in his owner twice, first in her breast and later on her cheek. His owner is now cancer free.
 
Induction ceremonies have taken place at venues in Huntsville, Montgomery and Birmingham.