2023 Rescue Pet Hero Award
Rancho Santa Fe (September 25, 2023) – A remarkable California dog, who helped rescue over 66 missing pets in the last seven years, will be honored at a Remember Me Thursday® Candlelight Vigil on September 28 at Balboa Park. Every year, Helen Woodward Animal Center grants the “Rescue Pet Hero Award,” to an extraordinary dog with an exceptional story. Normally, the hero hound attends the late September ceremony – along with their human – to accept their well-deserved trophy in person. Only this year, for the second time in the Rescue Pet Hero Award’s existence, the award will be granted posthumously.
Plato was a 10-year-old Shiba Inu blend who turned his love of playing hide and seek into a lifesaving skill. He first met his owner, Michael Fradin, while Fradin worked on a construction site. That’s where a car pulled up near the job site, and a driver threw Plato out of the car. Fradin rushed over, scooped up the Shiba Inu puppy and took him home with him.
Fradin and his then-girlfriend spent the next few months nursing Plato back to health. The pair would discover the dog’s exceptional tracking abilities when his girlfriend went for a hike. Plato had grown quite attached to her, so the second Fradin opened the door to their house, Plato darted out the door. It didn’t take long for him to track the trail to her exact location.
“Over the next few months we started playing hide and go seek with him,” Fradin said. “And he [found us] every single time.”
Soon after, Plato faced his first real tracking test. A severe rainstorm had drenched the San Lorenzo valley – where the duo called home – and two of Michael’s neighbors’ dogs ran off into the stormy night. The Boulder Creek man took Plato over to help thinking the Shiba Inu could pick up on the trail. It didn’t take long for the tracker pooch to find the missing dogs huddled in a ravine.
This would be the first of over 150 tracking expeditions, some spanning upwards of ten miles, the pair would embark on over the next seven years. During that time, Plato would find at least 66 missing pets.
“It was his favorite thing to do,” Fradin said. “He didn’t play ball, but he did love to track. And he wanted to find that puppy.”
Ultimately, Plato developed health issues after searching for lost pets in the CZU Fire Complex. He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and the community funded his months-long treatment. Plato passed on July 26th, 2023, but his legacy remains as a rescue pet hero.
Plato will be honored at the Balboa Park Remember Me Thursday® Candlelight Vigil. While Remember Me Thursday® has always been about commemorating the millions of animals who didn’t make it out of the shelters, it’s also about celebrating the amazing things animals like Plato can do. Michael Fradin will be joining us this year, along with Plato’s little brother Keno, who is training to track lost pets. He will be available for interviews.
For more information on Remember Me Thursday, please visit: remembermethursday.org
