The votes are in for this year’s Hambone Award. Each year, the company sorts through pet claims for the most unusual ones. They select ten finalists, and then people can vote for their favorite online to decide the recipient of the Nationwide Hambone Award. The voting is over, and this year’s award went to a cat named Giles. Here are some of the nominees.
The award is named Hambone because a dog had the misfortune of getting stuck in a refrigerator. While in there, the dog ate an entire holiday ham. Thus, the Hambone Award was born. The dog picked the bone clean and suffered a mild case of hyperthermia but survived the ordeal. This is the 15th annual celebration of the Hambone Award.
The 2024 Hambone Awardee is a handsome black cat from New York City named Giles (yes, his name is from the character in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). Giles won this distinctive award after being folded inside a sofa bed.
Owners Kaitlyn and Reid explained that his family was visiting and used the fold-out sofa bed during their stay. When they awoke, they folded up the bed, not realizing that Giles was under it. The metal frame bopped Giles in the face, causing a laceration. Once rescued, they carried him around the block to the vet hospital, where they stitched him up.
Prizes For The Nationwide Hambone Award
Kaitlyn, Reid, and Giles will receive the Hambone Award trophy and gift card. To celebrate the win, a donation will go in Giles’ name to the family’s choice of pet charity. Two runners-up will also receive awards of gift cards and a charitable donation in honor of each pet. Jax, a blind pug, snuggled up in a comforter after surgery in Las Vegas and gave himself a heat stroke. Sunny, a Labrador retriever, got hungry and decided to shimmy his entire crate across the room, where he “retrieved” and ate three phone charging cords.
The Nationwide Hambone Award celebrates the recoveries of all pet nominees who fully recovered from the unusual circumstances that got them on the list. Nationwide Insurance covers 1.2 million pets under its pet insurance policies. The insurance carrier also hosts a yearly Wacky Pet Name contest. If you follow their social media, you will meet their employee pets of the month and birthday pet winners and see notifications for contests and fun things they do all year. You can find them on Facebook and Instagram.
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.
