THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED RAISE MORE MONEY FOR THE MEDICAL TREATMENT OF RESCUE PETS THAN EVER BEFORE
1. 2017 Waggy Award recipient: TIPPI HEDREN
Film star and animal activist TIPPI HEDREN founded The Roar Foundation in 1983 which supports The Shambala Preserve in Acton, CA. The Preserve has given sanctuary and urgent medical care to over 235 exotic felines, all of which have come to the Preserve after confiscation by authorities, such as California Fish and Game, U.S. Department of Agriculture, SPCA, and Humane Societies. TIPPI works tirelessly to educate the public about exotic felines and is an unrelenting force against their buying, selling, breeding, or trading.
2. 2017 Waggy Award recipient: MOBY
MOBY is an international music superstar who works closely with a variety of different charities, including the Humane Society and Mercy for Animals. He owns and runs “little pine,” an organic vegan restaurant in Silver Lake, CA. 100% of little pine’s proceeds go to animal welfare organizations. Moby has written, “Our reliance on animal agriculture is literally killing us and ruining our climate and our planet.” He agrees with Albert Einstein who said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
3. HOST and previous WAGGY AWARD RECIPIENT JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL is an award-winning television anchor (CNN, HLN), author (iWant, Addict Nation, Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias), and online journalist (janeUnchained.com). On television and outside of it, Jane has also has dedicated her time and resources to various charitable and humane causes. She is well known for her animal rights advocacy and is a vegan and an environmentalist. In July 2009, Farm Animal Rights Movement awarded Jane the Celebrity Animal Activist Award. While working at Celebrity Justice, her reporting on animal cruelty earned that show Genesis Awards from the Humane Society of the United States. She earned additional Genesis Awards for her show Issues in 2010. PETA awarded her their “Movers and Shakers Award” in 2012.
4. Celebrity rescue pets were in attendance.
5. The undeniable glamour of the Taglyan Ballroom
6. Presenter GABRIELA COWPERTHWAITE, the producer and director of the critically acclaimed CNN documentary, Blackfish.
7. 2017 Waggy Award recipient: Karma Rescue’s PAWS FOR LIFE
The prison program, PAWS FOR LIFE, was developed by the Los Angeles-based non-profit Karma Rescue, and gives shelter dogs an opportunity to become “Canine Good Citizens,” an American Kennel Club designation that makes it easier for them to get adopted. PAWS FOR LIFE brings dogs to live with—and be trained by—inmates serving life-term sentences at California State prisons. Once dogs graduate from the 12-week training period, Karma Rescue places them in forever homes.
8. Actor, writer and professional imp, LESLIE JORDAN presents an award.
9. The remarkable BELLA OF PUG NATION. A happy dog with an inspiring story, and just one of the pets we helped this year.
10. Setting the stage for a great awards show.
The photos above were provided by David Alli of Don’t Blink Photography, Michael Douglass Photography, and Rodin Eckenroth of Getty Images.
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