Orange County Mayor Demings Presents AKC Humane Fund Award For Canine Excellence

On Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, The American Kennel Club (AKC®), the world’s largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, welcomed Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings at the 2019 AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin to present the AKC Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence (ACE) in the Uniformed Services Dog Category.

Mayor Demings presented K-9 Summer, a Labrador Retriever handled by Sergeant Micah Jones, with the award.  A retired military working dog, K-9 Summer now serves the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as an Explosive Detection Dog (EDD) with the Amtrak Police Department in Washington D.C.

The ACE Awards celebrate five loyal, hard-working dogs that have significantly improved the lives of their owners and communities in different categories. The Uniformed Services category awards a full-time working K-9 in the realms of city, county, state, or federal law enforcement; the military; firefighting; customs and border patrol; or emergency services.

“We were honored to have the Orange County Mayor, Jerry. L. Demings, present one of the esteemed ACE Awards,” said Gina DiNardo, Executive Secretary for the American Kennel Club. “Orlando has been home to the AKC National Championship since 2011, and with the Mayor’s extensive law enforcement background, we couldn’t find a better fit to present K-9 Summer with this honor.”

The ACE awards were presented during evening judging at the 2019 AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Re-airing of live event coverage can be found on AKC.tv, available online, on the AKC.tv app and Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Altice.