Profiles in Compassion Awards

2003 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners Announced!

In July 2003, Voices for Animals announced the winners of its sixth annual Profiles in Compassion Awards, recognizing three remarkable individuals for their efforts to extend the circle of compassion to all beings.

The recipient of this year's FRIEND OF STRAYS AWARD is Josie Kinkade, M.D., in honor of her efforts to eliminate the euthanasia of healthy, homeless dogs and cats in Virginia's Piedmont Region. Dr. Kinkade, a Louisa County family physician, cofounded Louisa's Spay/Neuter All Pets (SNAP) in 1996 and subsequently developed a mobile Spay Shuttle that has sterilized more than 1,000 animals since its inception.

In 2002, Dr. Kinkade cofounded a coalition of animal rescue organizations in Central Virginia called Spay Virginia Piedmont Region. Both groups are working toward ending euthanasia as a means of dog and cat overpopulation control in Central Virginia.

The FRIEND OF WILDLIFE AWARD goes to Sharon Kzinowek, Senior Wildlife Rehabilitator and workshop instructor at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro. Ms. Kzinowek began as a volunteer at the Wildlife Center in 1995 and became licensed as an apprentice in 1996. At that time, she began raising orphaned baby animals at her home while continuing to serve as an active Wildlife Center volunteer and part-time veterinary assistant. Ms. Kzinowek joined the Wildlife Center as a full-time staff member in 1999. Currently she is a category 2A licensed wildlife rehabilitator and teaches wildlife rehabilitation courses for the Wildlife Center.

This year's VEGETARIAN ALLY AWARD goes to Fabienne Swanson, manager and head chef at Veggie Heaven in Charlottesville, along with her entire staff. Ms. Swanson, a vegetarian since 1976, and the staff of Veggie Heaven were honored for their commitment to serving humane, healthy, creative dishes using organic ingredients and for their enthusiastic support of the annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival. Veggie Heaven is one of only two all-vegetarian restaurants in Charlottesville and, under Ms. Swanson's direction, has become a popular place for local vegetarians to eat and meet.

Voices for Animals launched its Profiles in Compassion Awards in 1997 to honor Central Virginians who have taken extraordinary measures to help animals. Award nominations are accepted each year from Voices for Animals' members and from the public. Winners are selected by the Board of Directors of Voices for Animals.

Award winners receive handsome, customized plaques commemorating their good deeds at a ceremony held in their honor.

Voices for Animals is proud to recognize the inspirational work of the local heroes profiled above. Their work demonstrates that one person can make a difference!

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2002 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners

2002 Sue W. Reed Lifetime Of Compassion Award

Karin Straley won the Sue W. Reed Lifetime of Compassion Award for founding two animal organizations that helped change the system of care for homeless companion animals in their counties. In the 1980s, she founded the Fluvanna SPCA, and in the 1990s, she founded Animal Connections, formerly Louisa County Animals in Foster Care.

Ms. Straley set up the Fluvanna SPCA in 1988 after a Labrador Retriever was shot at least eight times and hung in his owner's backyard in Fluvanna County. Ms. Straley, who was appalled by the situation, vowed to create an organization that would reduce animal suffering in Fluvanna County from that point forward. Thus, she started the Fluvanna SPCA and was its guiding force for many years.

Almost 14 years after its creation, the Fluvanna SPCA has improved the lives of thousands of animals and continues to serve its animal, and human, constituents well.

In the late-1990s, Ms. Straley set her sights on neighboring Louisa County. She created Animal Connections, a group whose volunteers provide foster care for adoptable dogs from the Louisa County Shelter until the dogs are placed in permanent homes. Animal Connections holds adoption fairs every Saturday at Pet Supplies Plus, Whole Foods, or other animal-friendly stores in Charlottesville. Animal Connections also places photos and descriptions of its foster dogs on its website.

Ms. Straley deserves the Lifetime of Compassion Award because her work exemplifies the reason the award was created. It recognizes work that has a lasting effect for animals in Central Virginia. In this regard, Ms. Straley already has one legacy -- the Fluvanna SPCA -- which continues to serve animals long after its founder moved on to other animal projects. Meanwhile, Ms. Straley is busy building what looks like another legacy in Animal Connections.

2002 Friend Of Strays Award

David and Jennifer Martin, founders of the no-kill, all-species New Hope Sanctuary for the Animals near Lynchburg, Virginia, and Richard and Laura Hoyle, founders of the no-kill pig sanctuary, Mini-Pigs, in Culpeper, Virginia, jointly won the Friend of Strays Award for taking in abused, abandoned, and injured companion animals and farmed animals and giving them permanent, loving homes, often at considerable financial cost to themselves.

David and Jennifer Martin of New Hope Sanctuary for the Animals are a ray of hope for the animals they have rescued. New Hope Sanctuary has been home to more than 50 animals at a time, including a litter of parvo puppies who eventually all recovered, cows and pigs from a New York cruelty case, hens from a tornado disaster, a Premarin foal saved from a Canadian slaughterhouse, a baby pig who survived an attack by buzzards who killed all her littermates, and dogs who survived the West Virginia flooding only to be used as target practice, hit by cars, or killed because of breed discrimination.

Richard and Laura Hoyle of Mini-Pigs have been rescuing pigs for 16 years. Mini-Pigs is the only sanctuary of its kind in Virginia. Situated on 17 acres of mostly wooded land, Mini-Pigs is home to more than 200 miniature potbellied and domestic pigs who were rescued from abuse, neglect, homelessness, and dinner plates. The Hoyles work full-time jobs to help provide a comfortable home for their pigs.

At Mini-Pigs, the animals first receive medical treatment and then are slowly introduced into an established herd of other pigs based on size, temperament, and social skills. The pigs live in grassy and wooded pastures. Pigs who need rehabilitation or re-socialization receive special care before and during their introduction into their new herds.

Both New Hope Sanctuary for the Animals and Mini-Pigs need donations from supporters so they can continue their valuable work. Also, their animals are available for adoption. Adopting them frees up space for other animals in need of rescue.

2002 Friend Of Wildlife Award

Joe and Linda Powers of Palmyra, Virginia won the Friend of Wildlife Award for their tireless efforts to protect the wildlife in their area.

Their 170-acre farm is a wildlife refuge. Mr. Powers patrols the roads during hunting season to ensure that hunters are obeying the law. Both the Powers have actively campaigned for more protective restrictions on hunting, notably in the use of high-powered rifles, the carrying of loaded weapons in vehicles, hunting from the road, and hunting near schools. Their efforts have occasionally paid off. For example, people can no longer hunt within a certain proximity to Fluvanna public school property.

Both Joe and Linda Powers are longtime wildlife transporters for the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

The Powers' kindheartedness extends to companion animals. They have been rescuing dogs and cats for more than 40 years, and their house is always home to several of their rescued friends. They regularly volunteer with the Fluvanna SPCA and the no-kill, companion animal sanctuary Caring for Creatures, and they work with Fluvanna County animal control officers and the sheriff's office when an animal needs a temporary home.

They have quietly donated money for needy families to buy pet food and to pay veterinary bills, and they have paid for veterinary care for homeless animals to help make them adoptable. They are strong advocates of pet therapy, having firsthand experience through their volunteer work with the Virginia chapter of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation.

The Powers are shining examples of compassion toward other species, and Central Virginia should be proud of them.

2002 Compassionate Veterinarian Award

Brian Arneson, DVM, and his wife Cindie, of Staunton won the Compassionate Veterinarian Award for donating services for more than five years to Kindred Spirits Spay/Neuter Clinic, the Shenandoah Valley's first low-cost spay/neuter clinic.

Dr. Arneson has performed hundreds of low-cost or free sterilizations on companion animals, such as on feral cats in local trap/neuter/return programs. Dr. Arneson's support, advice, and medical knowledge were crucial to the recent opening of Kindred Spirits' modern, fully-equipped spay/neuter clinic.

While Dr. Arneson has provided medical expertise to Kindred Spirits, his wife Cindie has provided crucial administrative assistance. She has helped Kindred Spirits meet deadlines on many projects, given computer assistance, and served as a source of encouragement when the morale of Kindred Spirits' volunteers was flagging.

The Arnesons are heroes to the volunteers at Kindred Spirits and to the many companion animals they have helped through the years.

2002 Citizen Activist Award

Whitney Mason, former Executive Director of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, won the Citizen Activist Award for involving local citizens in helping animals and for working with local animal organizations to help them accomplish their missions of reducing animal suffering.

Ms. Mason developed an SPCA foster-care program that recruited and trained foster families to temporarily take in adoptable dogs and cats until permanent homes could be found for them. This program, along with an aggressive spay/neuter effort, helped dramatically reduce euthanasia rates at the SPCA. Ms. Mason alone fostered more than 150 kittens at her home during her tenure at the SPCA.

Ms. Mason also instituted a formal SPCA volunteer recruitment and training program, harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of dozens of eager volunteers. In addition, she implemented a more active humane education program, reaching out to schoolchildren and local clubs, teaching them about responsible animal care.

Ms. Mason also reached out to local animal groups, such as Voices for Animals, Animal Haven, and breed rescue groups, working with them to help them accomplish their missions. She even arranged for the SPCA to donate funds to some of these organizations so their valuable work could continue.

The Central Virginia community and its homeless animals were fortunate to have Ms. Mason in their midst for a year and a half, and Voices for Animals is proud to recognize Ms. Mason for her accomplishments while she was here.

2002 Vegetarian Ally Award

Grier Runyon, owner of the all-vegetarian restaurant Liquid Vegetarian Cafe & Juice Bar, won the Vegetarian Ally Award because she has provided an inviting place for Charlottesville-area vegetarians and vegans to eat humane and healthy food. From fruit smoothies to homemade soups to delicious sandwiches, Liquid has what it takes to satisfy the vegetarian palate.

Liquid is one of only two all-vegetarian restaurants in Charlottesville. Liquid first opened on Charlottesville's University Corner in 1997, fulfilling Ms. Runyon's dream to create a restaurant that focused on fresh ingredients and that answered the growing demand for healthy, vegetarian fare. Last year, Liquid moved to a location just off Charlottesville's Downtown Mall.

Local vegetarians are grateful to Ms. Runyon for her vision and her hard work.

2001 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners

2001 Sue W. Reed Lifetime of Compassion Award

The Sue W. Reed Lifetime of Compassion Award goes to Louise Wiedman, a Charlottesville resident who from her earliest years cared about animals and about preserving their natural environments. Louis found enormous happiness in the mountains and the lakes and the animals, and she respected even the smallest of creatures, carrying spiders outside when she found them in her house. Louise passed on her respect for nature and animals to her three children, one of whom, Susan Wiedman, founded Voices for Animals in 1984. Louise served as the volunteer treasurer of Voices for Animals for more than ten years, performing many thankless administrative tasks and offering the group her invaluable insights and advice. Louise died in December 2000.

2001 Citizen Activist Award

The Citizen Activist Award goes to Jon and Alyson Rice, Charlottesville residents who devote much time and energy to improving the lives of dogs in our community. Jon created and maintains a wonderful web site, the cityofdogs.com, which serves as a resource for Charlottesville dog owners and also features an on-line adoption clearinghouse for homeless dogs (and some cats). Many of the companion animals featured on cityofdogs.com are from humane societies in outlying counties; Jon regularly drives the distance to these shelters to take the pictures himself and then spends hours creating individual web pages for each dog. Together with his wife Alyson, Jon initiated the high-profile campaign to petition Charlottesville officials to provide safe and adequate off-leash exercise areas for Charlottesville dogs. (Visit cityofdogs.com to learn how you can helf in this effort.) The Rices have organized a vocal and active coalition of dog owners and lovers to bring public attention to the need for more and better dog exercise areas in the city.

2001 Vegetarian Ally Award

The Vegetarian Ally Award goes to Kim Isaacs, Editor of the Echo, for her longtime support of the vegetarian and natural living communities in Central Virginia. Under Kim's leadership, the Echo has become a reliable friend to Charlottesville area residents who prefer to avoid eating animal products. The Echo is the only local publication to feature a vegetarian guide to local dining, and almost every issue of the newpaper includes articles of interest to vegetarian and vegan readers. The Echo has also been a major corporate sponsor of the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival, organized by Voices for Animals and now in its fifth year. Kim's tireless efforts to maintain the Echo as a positive voice for those who prefer healthy, natural, and cruelty-free lifestyles has earned her, and her paper, the gratitude of many.

2001 Friend of Strays Award

The Friend of Strays Award goes to Barbara Lambert of the Madison County Humane Society and Beth McPhee of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA.

During Barbara's two years as President of the Madison County Humane Society, she has guided a wholesale turnaround of the organization, based on the guiding principle that euthanasia is simply not an acceptable cure for the homeless animal population. Through greatly expanded adoption activities in the community, through newly-forged alliances with animal rescue groups, and through extensive public education and outreach intitiatives (including a new low-income spay/neuter support program), Barbara has helped to reduce the Humane Society's euthanization rate from 60% of dogs and 72% of cats in 1997 to just 5% overall in 2000.

Beth McPhee has been a member of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA staff for 13 years, currently overseeing shelter operations as shelter manager. In addition to stepping in as acting director of the shelter for six months during 2000 when the SPCA was without a permanent director, Beth has also expanded efforts to save more lives of shelter animals. By providing veterinary care to animals that otherwise might have been euthanized, by expanding the number of dogs and cats that are spayed before leaving the shelter, and by working closely with breed rescue individuals and groups to find good and permanent homes for shelter animals, Beth has made a real difference in the lives of many, many animals and their human companions in our community.

2001 Compassionate Veterinarian Award

The Compassionate Veterianarian Award goes to two local vets, Dr. Michael Rose of Monticello Animal Hospital and Dr. William Hay of Airport Animal Clinic, for their extensive pro-bono work on behalf of local spay/neuter programs and animal shelters.

Since opening Monticello Animal Hospital in the spring of 1998, Dr. Rose and his staff have performed over 500 low-cost spay/neuter surgeries on stray cats through the Voices for Animals feral cat project. Dr. Rose and his staff regularly organize low-cost vaccination clinics in low-income areas; foster and adopt out homeless felines and canines at their clinic; and provide discount services for sever other local animal rescue groups and shelters, including the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA.

Likewise, since opening his Airport Animal Clinic in August 1998, Dr. William Hay has shown tremendous dedication to helping homeless and sick animals through his work with numerous local animal rescue groups and shelters (including the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, Animal Haven, Green County Animal Shelter, Nelson County SPCA, and Louisa County SPCA). For the past two and a half years, Dr. Hay has worked with Voices for Animals to combat the feline overpopulation problem in this area and performed over 200 discount spay/neuter surgeries on stray and feral cats.

2000 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners

2000 Lifetime of Compassion Award

The Lifetime of Compassion Award was inaugurated this year and will be presented annually to a local resident with a lifelong record of dedication to animals and the environment. The inaugural award was present posthumously to Sue Wellbeloved Reed, a co-founder of the Living Education Center for Ecology and the Arts and an active member of several local conservation organizations. Sue passed away in November 1999. "May your lives be as full of love as mine has been," she wrote to friends and loved ones shortly before her death. "May you care for yourselves and each other and work to bring beauty and compassion into all life." The Lifetime of Compassion Award will hereafter be named the Sue W. Reed Lifetime of Compassion Award in her memory.

2000 Compassionate Citizen Award

The Compassionate Citizen Award goes to Danielle Devereux, an Albemarle County resident and local Realtor who launched a campaign last year to outfit all Albemarle County and Charlottesville police dodgs with bullet-proof vests, following the shooting deaths of at least two police dogs in recent years. Devereux raised over $1,500 to buy the dog vests and is now urging citizens in surrounding communities to buy vests for their police dogs as well.

2000 Vegetarian Allies Award

The Vegetarian Allies Awards go to Chris McRae and James Lee.

Chris McRae, Manager of Integral Yoga Natural Foods, is recognized for his strong support of the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival (Intregal Yoga Natural Foods has been the primary sponsor of the Vegetarian Festival since its inception) and for the friendly, high-quality service that he and Intregal Yoga provide to ethical and health-conscious consumers in Central Virginia.

James Lee, a Dining Services Manager at the University of Virginia, took the lead in creating a new, all-vegetarian dining hall at UVa to provide an option for the growing numbers of vegan, vegetarian, and vegetarian-friendly students at the University.

2000 Friend of Strays Award

The Friend of Strays Award goes to Bette Grahame, long-time President of the Nelson County Humane Society/SPCA, who has devoted countless hours to finding home for thousands of stray dogs and cats in Nelson County. Grahame, who has 17 dogs of her own, is a tireless crusader for the welfare of homeless animals and has fought battle after battle to keep the Humane Society/SPCA operating, often under very difficult conditions. Grahame and the Humane Society/SPCA will soon begin raising funds to build a permanent animal adoption facility in Nelson County.

1999 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners

1999 Humane Educator Award

The Humane Educator Award goes to Mable Kinzie, an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. For schoolchildren who cringe at the thought of dissecting live frogs in biology class, Kinzie has designed a web page that offers them a more humane alternative: "virtual dissection.". Her Netfrog page has been visited over 765,000 times, saving thousands of kids -- and thousands of frogs -- from this painful and unnecessary procedure. Thanks in part to the advent of such technology, more and more school systems around the country are now allowing animal-friendly kids to opt out of live animal dissection.

1999 Friend of Wildlife Award

The Friend of Wildlife Award goes to Karyn Albrecht, a volunteer at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro. Albrecht has devoted over 300 volunteer hours to the nurture and care of injured and orphaned animals at the Center, showing up to volunteer even in the worst of weather. She has also rescued several injured birds herself and has released many rehabilitated animals back into the wild. On top of all of these efforts, she even mops the Center's floors and does dishes! In return, says a Wildlife Center staffperson, "Karyn has never asked for anything -- except more work. She is an amazing person, kind, hard working, and always positive, something that is rare in our times."

1999 Caring Companion Award

The Caring Companion Award goes to Mary Birkholz, director and founder of Caring for Creatures, a no-kill sanctuary for homeless dogs and cats in Palmyra which recently celebated its 10th anniversary. Birkholz has worked tirelessly to make Caring for Creatures a peaceful, well-run sanctuary with comfortable lodgings for its animal residents. The approximately 50 dogs and 150 cats living at Caring for Creatures thrive under her care. Birkholz also travels to local schools to teach children how to care for and respect animals.

1999 Enlightened Entrepreneurs Award

The Enlightened Entrepreneurs Award goes to Janus Raphaelidis and Jon Kessler, two Charlottesville residents who recently started their own small business,Sunergia Soyfoods, with an eye toward producing meat alternatives that are as delicious as they are nutritious. Raphaelidis and Kessler have developed a line of vegetarian sausage, specialty tofus, and other products that make it easy for anyone to enjoy animal-friendly eating. Sunergia products can be found at Intregal Yoga Natural Foods, Rebecca's, and other local establishments.

1999 Compassionate Kid Award

Voices for Animals created a special Compassionate Kid Award in honor of Spencer Southall a 9 year-old fourth grade student at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Louisa County. One day in December 1997, Spencer noticed a stray dog walking along Louisa's busy Main Street. Worried that the little Jack Russell terrier might get hit by a car, she begged her mother to pull their car over to the side of the road. Spencer got out and called to the little dog, at which point he ran over and jumped into their car. Spencer loved the dog immediately and asked to keep him. As it turned out, the dog (Wrinkles) had been unhappy at home and had frequently resorted to running away. Wrinkles' owners asked if Spencer wanted to keep him and she readily agreed. "Since that time," says Spencer's mother, "Spencer has loved him and given him a warm and safe environment in which to live. He even had a bath in apple shampoo! Wrinkles has become a big part of our family. That is lots of love for a little girl to give a stray dog, and we are all so glad Spencer did!"

1999 Honorable Mentions

Honorable mentions went to Paul Gregory, a University of Virginia graduate student in chemistry who has dedicated countless hours of his time to helping the animals rescued by the Fluvanna SPCA, and to Beth and Prewitt Scripps, publishers of the local bimonthly newspaper The Pet Gazette, which regularly features articles on companion animal welfare.

1998 Profiles in Compassion Award Winners

1998 Citizen Activist Award

The Citizen Activist Award goes to Tommy Rosen, the Staunton business owner whose "My Dog Votes" campaign successfully raised public awareness about the woeful conditions faced by stray dogs at the Augusta County Dog Pound.

1998 Vegetarian Voice Award

The Vegetarian Voice Award goes to Li-Chen Chen, of the Ming Dynasty restaurant in Charlottesville, whose longstanding support for vegetarians and vegetarian causes has made her restaurant a popular destination among Central Virginians who choose to avoid eating animals.

1998 Strays' Best Friend Award

The Strays' Best Friend Award goes to Delores Clatterbuck, a Greene County resident who is well-known for her efforts to help locate lost dogs and cats, and for her strong support of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA. As one of her co-workers says, "All animals are her friends."

1998 Compassionate Veterinarian Award

The Compassionate Veterianarian Award goes to two local vets, Dr. Charles Wood of the Airport Animal Clinic and to Dr. George Belbey of the James River Animal Hospital, both of whom generously provided low-cost spay/neuter services for the Voices for Animals Cat Project.