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Jorja Fox (CSI) and Henry Simmons (Something New) presenting at The Genesis Awards.

By Jennifer Martin

It was a year that brought into focus America's deep, abiding love for all types of animals—from wildlife to farm animals to pets. Recapturing the extraordinary events of 2005, the 20th Anniversary Genesis Awards honored dozens of creative communicators who spotlighted animal welfare issues in the news and entertainment media.

From celebrities to members of congress to everyday people, many in the audience wiped their eyes as presenters of the Genesis Awards described the content of the award-winning media coverage or presented some of the most significant victories achieved on behalf of animals in the past year. One segment honored the media heroes of Hurricane Katrina who helped draw attention to the plight of the thousands of animal victims. Another segment highlighted thoughtful reports in the news media, from the "Saving the Horses" expose on ABC World News Tonight to Charles Siebert's The New York Times magazine cover story about a first of its kind retirement home for research chimps.

Stars of film and TV, from Jorja Fox of CSI to James Cromwell of Babe spoke excitedly about their honor to present awards or, in many cases, receive them. "This is a huge evening," said Steve Valentine from Crossing Jordan. "Everyone shows up, and it's because it's not just about giving awards to people; it's about making people aware. I love the fact that they put it on Animal Planet."

The Power of Media

Genesis Awards founder Gretchen Wyler, who has devoted a lifetime to animal welfare causes, received a shower of honors and congratulations as she presided over her final awards night. Wyler is retiring this year as HSUS Vice President in charge of the Hollywood Office. "What a night!" Wyler told the audience after a standing ovation. "What a way to go out!"

A Lifetime for Animals

Read about Gretchen Wyler’s career onstage and as a leader in animal advocacy for 40 years. On the eve of her retirement, Wyler leaves a tremendous legacy to the animal welfare movement. Get the full story. »

It seemed fitting that 2005's exceptional events and Wyler's final benediction were captured in the Genesis Awards' 20th Anniversary celebration. The Genesis Awards, Wyler noted, have come a long way since 1986, when Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I. made the simple statement that it's wrong to kill whales. "We have at least four entire films tonight that have messages that are strong," she said, pointing as well to the numerous news reports, TV shows, documentaries and other works that received awards. "There's not an American alive [who] doesn't know the value of the bond between companion animals and humans, and it's because of the media coverage of the Katrina disaster."

In an evening peppered with anecdotes about great legal and moral advances made for animals in 2005, celebrities presented more than 20 members of the major news and entertainment media with awards or special commendations.

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Zooey and Emily Deschanel presented the award for Outstanding Animated Feature Film to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Fox had the delight of presenting an award to her own show for a CSI episode (titled "Unbearable") that revealed the cruelty of canned hunts. "This is a great night for us," Fox said just before the ceremony. "Our shows are story-driven; we rarely take a stand on anything. 'Unbearable' was a cool episode to do. I'm really happy for Josh [Berman, co-writer and co-executive producer] and for everyone else who was involved with this show."

"Human and animal lives converging for the benefit of both."

ABC comedy Rodney won the Sid Caesar Comedy Award for an episode about two men challenged to slaughter a cow. Armed with a rifle and a blindfold (for the cow), they discover they cannot bring themselves to do it. "The cow becomes a pet, and they're walking her down the street," Wyler said with a chuckle. "It's great." Eventually, after examining eating meat through the show's unique comic lens, the cow is sent to a sanctuary. Rodney star Jennifer Aspen, who presented the award, said she loved working with a bovine costar in spite of some special challenges. "Nobody accounted for the fact that this was a farm animal, and it would go to the bathroom on the set whenever it felt like it," she said. "But I loved that cow. I'm crazy about animals."

Joan of Arcadia star Joe Mantegna and legendary actress and animal activist Tippi Hedren presented the award for Outstanding Feature Film to Duma. The Warner Bros. film told the poignant story of a boy who rescues an orphaned cheetah cub, then makes the difficult decision to return him to the wild where he belongs. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, a profile of a troubled man who finds peace in caring for wild parrots,

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Kate Walsh (Grey's Anatomy) on the red carpet before the awards.

won honors for Outstanding Documentary Film. Cromwell, who presented the award with Less Than Perfect star Sara Rue, called the documentary "a grand example of human and animal lives converging for the benefit of both."

Newsworthy

A number of compelling news stories and documentaries also took home top honors. CNN's Larry King Live won an award for an expose of the cruel Chinese dog- and cat-fur industry. The expose paved the way to a federal bill which could close the fur labeling loophole. ABC's World News Tonight, a perennial winner, was chosen again for highlighting a range of pressing animal issues, including the horse slaughter and a controversial elephant cull in South Africa. And for a highly courageous report about the dolphin slaughter in Japan, The Japan Times won the Brigitte Bardot International Award. The report was not popular with the Japanese government. Presenter Constance Zimmer of TV's In Justice noted that photojournalist Boyd Harnell and editor Andrew Kershaw "put their jobs on the line bucking [Japan's] media blackout of the 20,000 dolphins annually butchered for human consumption."

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Musician/composer and animal advocate Moby (far left) presented journalist Dan Noyes (far right) of KGO-TV in San Francisco for his report on battery caged hens. They flank other KGO staffers, Beth Rimby and Lynn Friedman.

In another example of a publication pushing beyond established boundaries, the magazine American Conservative took home an award for "Fear Factories," a thought-provoking cover story about the inhumane practices of factory farming. The expose was written by Matthew Scully, who also wrote the book, Dominion, on the same premise—that everyone, regardless of political affiliation, has an obligation to protect animals from unnecessary suffering. In accepting the award, Executive Editor Scott McConnell said, "[Scully's] extraordinary essay would have made any editor unable to resist...Those who sing the praises of God should be the first not to insult and degrade His creatures."

Presenter Kelly Bishop of TV's Gilmore Girls said she was thrilled to see a conservative publication focusing on an animal welfare issue. "Usually, conservatives look at animal rights people with derision," she said. "This time, a conservative author said, 'No, let's look at it as an animal issue.' I think it's a huge step toward communication."

The Heroes of Katrina

Amidst many other honors and commendations, the 20th Anniversary Genesis Awards also honored the heroes of Hurricane Katrina. They included HSUS volunteer Jane Garrison—who spent five months rescuing more than 1,300 animals—and a host of TV networks that aired in-depth reports on the animals left behind,

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Actress Amy Smart with Katrina, the dog who took top honors for her New Orleans rescue. Many of the stars took their turn giving Katrina her due with some pets on the red carpet.

including PBS, ABC, CBS, Animal Planet, and CNN. KARE-11 News of Minneapolis and KCAL News 9 of Los Angeles also won special awards for airing segments on Katrina's animal refugees. A very special black Labrador who saved a man from drowning in the storm even made a special appearance at the Genesis Awards. Aptly named "Katrina," she now lives with KCAL photographer Jeff Mailes. "I've still got a lot of mental images of what went on down there, and she's been my therapy," Mailes said before the event as a wagging Katrina rolled on her back, let reporters scratch her tummy, and licked the microphones near her nose. "She's a good dog."

It's for moments like these that the Genesis Awards exist. It's within the unique power of the media to illustrate the magic of animals for a mass audience, which is why animal welfare groups hope the media will continue this powerful work. Public awareness is a powerful tool, noted ASPCA special investigator Annemarie Lucas, star of the Animal Planet series Animal Precinct. "I've been locking up animal abusers for years, but it was when Animal Precinct went on the air that everybody became aware that animal cruelty happens every day," she said. "Five years later, people are calling and saying, 'How can I help?' It's a wonderful thing. It's great to have an event that celebrates the media who bring about awareness of animal issues to the general public."

The year was a turning point for animals, helped in large part because of the media. Congress made headlines by standing firm against three foreign companies that wanted to slaughter U.S. horses for human consumption abroad. Powerhouse clothing retailers Ann Taylor, J. Crew, and Selfridges banned fur products from their stores. British Airways flew in the face of its own government by refusing to transport any animal for laboratory experiments. Food retailers and institutions, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's among them, moved their businesses toward cage-free egg sales or cage-free egg use because of the suffering of caged hens. And Hurricane Katrina drew thousands of tireless animal rescuers to the Gulf Coast, directed unprecedented media attention to the plight of animals in disasters, and triggered new proposed federal legislation that would force communities to plan for pet evacuations in emergencies.

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A full listing of the 20th Anniversary Genesis Awards recipients follows:

Outstanding Feature Film – Animated
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
For unleashing the inimitable duo on an eccentric adventure, in which Gromit’s canine savvy helps them win through with a unique and humane version of pest control.

Outstanding Feature Film
An Unfinished Life
For a moving tale of damaged lives, in which a bear’s miserable confinement in a roadside zoo comes to symbolize the need for all concerned to be free to embrace life again.

Outstanding Family Feature Film
Duma
For a poignant story about a boy’s relationship with an orphaned cheetah cub, and his growing awareness that he must (and he does) release the animal back into the wild where he belongs.

Outstanding Documentary Film
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
For an enchanting profile of a real life “St. Francis” whose search for meaning in his life is fulfilled by a flock of wild parrots whose intelligence and individual personalities are a revelation.

Outstanding Dramatic Series
CSI – “Unbearable”
For a powerful and groundbreaking episode that takes the lid off the deplorable “sport” of canned hunting, revealing a link to surplus zoo animals, and the trade in bear parts.

Sid Caesar Comedy Series
Rodney
For putting a face on beef by suggesting people would be less inclined to eat meat if they had to butcher the cow themselves, proving that humor is often the best recipe for making a point.

Outstanding Cable Documentary
Jane Goodall: When Animals Talk
For a fascinating look at the sophisticated communicative and cognitive abilities of a variety of species, demonstrating the untapped brain-power of non-human animals.

Outstanding National News Feature
ABC World News Tonight
For highlighting multiple issues, including an elephant cull in South Africa; the debate about wild horses and horse slaughter in the U.S, and the underestimated intelligence of farm animals.

Outstanding TV Network News Magazine
Primetime
For an investigation into the brutal trapping methods used in the trade of wild dolphins for tourism’s popular “swim with” programs.

Outstanding TV Talk Show
Larry King Live – CNN
For an exposé of the cruel Chinese dog and cat fur industry, which supplies a largely unregulated global trade in unlabeled pelts, sold illegally in many countries, including the U.S.

Brigitte Bardot International
Japan Times
For a courageous condemnation of the shameful Japanese practice of slaughtering dolphins to protect the country’s fisheries, and as the by-product of supplying dolphins for theme parks.

Outstanding Children’s Programming
Higglytown Heroes – “Kip’s Shadow”
For delivering a wonderfully entertaining and informative companion animal 101 lesson for pre-schoolers, involving responsible care and the plight of strays.

Outstanding Local PBS Documentary
Visionaries – “Beyond Shelter”
For an inspirational look at the benefits of positive interaction with companion animals, illustrated by the effects of humane education and persevering with difficult dogs.

Outstanding Local News Series
KGO-TV (Bay Area)
For an ambitious two-part under cover investigation into the inhumane conditions endured by battery caged egg-laying hens, encouraging Trader Joe’s to switch to cage-free eggs.

Outstanding Local News Feature
KNBC-TV (Los Angeles)
For shining the spotlight on two critical local issues: the ongoing controversy surrounding the L.A. Zoo’s elephant program, and the new LAPD Task Force, created to combat animal fighting.

Outstanding Periodical
American Conservative – “Fear Factories”
For a thought provoking cover story in a break-through outlet, presenting an unequivocal condemnation of the inhumane practices of factory farming.

Outstanding Newspaper Magazine Feature
New York Times Magazine – “Planet of the Retired Apes”
For a landmark cover story exploring Chimp Haven, a first of its kind government facility offering retired research chimpanzees an idyllic environment in return for their “services” to mankind.

Outstanding Series of Newspaper Articles
Washington Post
For breaking the story about a tax scam, which allows trophy hunters tax breaks for selling taxidermies of rare animals killed on safari and “canned hunts.”
 
Outstanding Cartoonist – Ongoing Commitment
Bizarro
For turning common perceptions about the role of animals in our world upside down, with a wry, edgy humor that never fails to hit the mark.

Outstanding Newspaper Editorials
Santa Barbara News Press
For an unrivalled collection of 44 insightful, timely and reasoned editorials, exploring an array of significant animal issues in need of public attention and effecting change in the process.

 

Jennifer Martin is a freelance writer based in Chicago. Her work has appeared in Family Circle, Pet Age and Paw Luxuries magazines.

 

Updated 11/14/06