As 2007 draws to a close, we have a lot to feel good about in the world of animal protection. The Humane Society of the United States scored some major, headline-grabbing victories for animal protection that helped countless animals and gave strength to our cause.

There were also a number of lower-profile stories that touched our hearts -- citizens who chose to go above and beyond the call of duty and became heroes to animals in need. Heroism works the other way, too: a couple of non-humans on the list helped to save people.

Please read about the top five HSUS heroes of 2007, and then vote for your favorite below. Voting closes at midnight EST on Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

(1) Marius Mironescu, a Coney Island lifeguard who rescued a baby sand shark from a mob of about a hundred beachgoers in September. The shark had unwittingly swum into a crowd of bathers, who began tormenting him relentlessly. Scooping up the battered shark, he swam the baby fish back out to sea and safety. Said Mironescu, "They were holding on to it and some people were actually hitting him, smacking his face. Well, I wasn't going to let them hurt the poor thing."

(2) Suzie the life-saving dog, who brought a rope and blankets to a trapped man in freezing temperatures to save him from hypothermia in February. When Suzie's caretaker, Newark Volunteer Fire Department officer Chris Cromer, gave Suzie a mound of blankets and the rope and asked her to run with them to a hapless adventurer stuck in frozen mud, Suzie didn't hesitate. "Suzie did a wonderful thing that day, keeping the rescuers out of harm of the freezing mud, but it was just fun for her," said Cromer.

(3) U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Brown, who found two puppies on the streets of Saudi Arabia in May. In the midst of the chaos of war, Matthew Brown scooped up the pups and brought them to safety. When he was scheduled to return to the U.S., he couldn't bear to leave them behind. He contacted the Potter Animal Rescue League, who helped bring Thelma and Louise to permanent, loving homes in the U.S.

(4) Mo, the former feral cat, who alerted his caretaker to a house fire in November. When artist Sandy Spreitz took the scrawny orange tabby off the streets, he had no idea that the cat he saved would end up saving him. When Mo began caterwauling one night, Spreitz let her outside. But Mo's insistent howling from outside the cottage door shook Spreitz out of his sleepy state and alerted him to the fire that eventually destroyed his house, but not his life. "Yeah, I love my Mo - and I'm still very glad she saved my life," said Spreitz.

(5) A group of California commuters who saved a black bear from falling to his death from the edge of a bridge in September. The bear was crossing a bridge one morning and was startled by oncoming traffic and leapt over the side of the bridge, where he balanced precariously on the edge of a thin ledge, seventy feet above jagged rocks. Passersby alerted animal control and rescuers, and with some netting and a tranquilizer dart, the wayward bear was rescued and safely released.

Click here to vote for your favorite Humane Hero of 2007.