Not long ago, Alison Sweeney told us that having enough time to support causes she believes in is one of the pluses of stepping down from her longtime starring stint on "Days of Our Lives" and her "The Biggest Loser" hostess job. So it wasn't a surprise to find her among the celebrities lending their star power to help bring attention to furry friends at the 2015 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards. When the show airs on the Hallmark Channel Oct. 30, viewers will see the beautiful blond star serving as a presenter and all-around canine enthusiast.

She has her own hero dogs at home, she lets us know. One of them is Winkie. He's "a one-eyed Boston Terrier who lost her eye in a puppy mill like Harley," she says, referring to the "Hero Dog Awards" Chihuahua who spent 10 years suffering rough treatment and living in a cage — and now serves as a spokesdog against those grossly inhumane breeding factories. Alison and her husband, handsome California Highway Patrol officer Dave Sanov and their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter "have had Winkie for almost 10 years and our kids love her.

"Our other dog, Ozzie, I actually rescued quite literally myself," she goes on. "He was in the middle of the road, about to get run over, and he started to run onto the freeway. My husband jokes that I jumped out of a moving car. I didn't even wait for the car to stop before I threw myself out. 'I was going to stop,' he says, 'I was planning to stop. You could have waited two more seconds.'" She laughs. "And we were not in a very safe part of town. I was like, 'It's a dog. The gangsters are going to be nice. It's a dog! Right?' And my husband was like, 'Stop talking to the bad guys and get in the car.'

"So our dog, Ozzie, was our second rescue dog. We have had Ozzie for a year and a half. Ozzie's a little black mutt," notes Alison. "He was definitely living on his own on the streets for a long time and has all kinds of injuries from it. It's likely someone had him and then just didn't want him anymore and just turned him out. It's so horrible to think about."

Any dog lover would agree. And there certainly was no shortage of devotees at the Beverly Hilton for the Hero Dog festivities recorded last month.

Beth Stern and James Denton returned as hosts of the event that recognizes heroic dogs in eight categories: Law Enforcement and Arson Dogs; Service Dogs; Therapy Dogs; Military Dogs; Guide Dogs; Search and Rescue Dogs; Hearing Dogs; and Emerging Hero Dogs (the category for ordinary dogs). Presented for the past four years by the Lois Pope Life Foundation, the awards have been gaining momentum each year as more dog admirers catch on. The animals' stories of courage, loyalty, self-sacrifice and love bring cheers and tears.

The 2015 Hero Dog Awards also feature performances by John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting, with celeb presenters including Bindi Irwin, Derek Hough and Kym Johnson of "Dancing With the Stars," Lea Thompson, Danica McKellar, Pauley Perrette, Fred Willard, and Mark Steines and Cristina Ferrare of "Home & Family" in addition to Alison.

She's delighted to be part of it. As she notes, "You come to an event like this and think about the good you can do and how great it is to be part of something special."