Decatur’s Casper the sheep dog wins People’s Choice Pup award

By Don Shipman

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    DECATUR, Georgia (WANF) — The Great Pyrenees who fought off a pack of coyotes and was badly injured in the process just won the People’s Choice Pup award in a national pet contest.

Casper spent weeks at the veterinarian and months at home in Decatur recovering from his injuries. A year later, 3-year-old Casper is fully healed and thriving. The dog’s owner, John Wierwille, knew Casper deserved the award, but was still surprised he won.

“It’s nice that he was nominated but since we don’t do a whole lot of social media, I didn’t expect him to win,” said Wierwille.

Casper won the People’s Choice Pup award from the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Farm Bureau says more than 100 thousand people voted online with Casper garnering the most votes. The trophy comes with a $1,000 cash prize, which is being donated to the Atlanta-based LifeLine Animal Project at the request of Wierwille, according to the Farm Bureau. Casper spent weeks recovering from his injuries at LifeLine.

“There are lots of deserving dogs. It was an honor for him to just be nominated,” said Wierwille.

Casper beat out four other dogs to win the People’s Choice Pup award.

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