Last week the Humane Society of the United States hosted a private awards ceremony for the family of Buffy, a German Shepherd from Oakland, Calif., who was posthumously named the Valor Dog of the Year, the highest honor in the companion dog category of The HSUS's inaugural Dogs of Valor Awards. Buffy's intervention during a robbery saved her owner's life but ultimately claimed hers. You can read Buffy's touching story here and here in the Oakland Tribune.

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Photo courtesy the Bartley family, Buffy, the Valor Dog of the Year