Hero: Tre Smith

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Look! It's a bird, no, it's a plane, no wait, it's Tre Smith of the OSPCA! This child actor turned lofter turned cruelty investigator is a hero for the hounds. It's hard to believe that anyone could hurt a poor defenseless animal, but sadly, it does happen. It's good to know that there are guys like this out there whose sole job is to seek out these animal abusers and bring them to justice. And it's even better to know that he's the type of guy to handcuff a guy to his own car for leaving a poor dog in the backseat to overheat. So what if that dude got punched in the face a few times by some passers-by who wanted to join in on some vigilante justice? Too often we hear about jackasses who beat cats and starve dogs and in the rare occasion they get caught, they just get a little slap on the wrist. Smith says he didn't know that the guy was going to get punched in the face a few times; he just needed to tend to the near-death dog before dealing with an erratic pet owner. Hey, it could be worse: Smith could have just tasered him.

Photo by Megan Bell from the Supporters of Animal Cruelty Investigator Tre Smith Facebook group.