Schweitzer Medalists: Animal Welfare Institute

Schweitzer Medalists: Animal Welfare Institute

• 2008 Greg Fett, successfully detained the drivers of a livestock trailer at his tire shop while awaiting authorities to seize the 11 malnourished horses being transported. Medal presentation by the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
• 2004 Gail Eisnitz, author and humane investigator, for her courageous and unrelenting efforts to document, expose, and prevent widespread animal abuse in factory farms and slaughterhouses. Medal presentation by John Mackey, CEO,...
• 2001 AAndrzej Lepper, President of Samoobrona, the large Polish rural union whose name means "self defense," for his battle against the industrial hog factory system. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance, presented the Medal.
• 1999 Edward Seymour-Rouse, Founder of Eurogoup for Animal Welfare and Parliamentary Intergroup for Animal Welfare, was instrumental in achieving a ban on leghold traps in the European Union. The Medal was presented by Madron Seligman, Member of...
• 1996 enry Spira for his successful campaigns against unnecessary experiments on animals and face branding of cattle. The work he started to prevent cruel confinement of hens, pigs, and calves in factory farms continues. Albert Schweitzer address...
• 1994 Michael Tillman for thwarting commercial whalers, reversing the Revised Management Procedure, and maintaining the moratorium on whale killing for profit at the 1993 International Whaling Commission meeting in Kyoto, Japan. Medal presentation...
• 1990 Allan Thornton and Dave Currey of the Environmental Investigation Agency for achieving international protection for elephants and dolphins by revealing cruel and illicit commercial killing. The Medal was presented by Senator John Heinz.
• 1988 Astrid Lindgren for achieving enactment of the world's most comprehensive law against cruel factory farming practices. Mrs. Lindgren is the author of many children's stories which are classics in Swedish literature and, in translation,...
• 1987 Jane Goodall, for her leadership in fighting for protection of chimpanzees. Senator John Melcher, author of the requirement for psychological well being of primates in the Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act, presented the Medal.
• 1986 Senator Robert Dole whose leadership ensured enactment of the 1985 Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act and the 1978 humane slaughter legislation.
• 1981 Dr. Dallas Pratt for his landmark books, especially Alternatives to Pain in Experiments on Animals. Medal presented by Senator Mark Hatfield.
• 1980 Roger and Katharine Payne, for leadership in the protection of whales through observation of living Humpback and Right whales. Medal presentation by Senator Paul Tsongas.
• 1979 Shri H.M. Patel, Chairman of the Indian Board for Wildlife, for his contributions to wildlife conservation and humane education as Indian Minister of Finance.
• 1977 Yoko Muto, animal caretaker of Tokyo University, and representative of the Japan Animal Welfare Society, for her seven years of unstinting effort to allay the suffering of thousands of dogs used for experimental surgery, by gentle, personal...
• 1976 Daniel Oduber, President of Costa Rica, for outstanding achievement in creating major national parks in Costa Rica where wildlife can flourish. The presentation was made by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey.
• 1975 Fay Brisk, who uncovered cruelty and theft by laboratory dog dealers in the 1960s and initiated an animalport in Washington, DC to help animals transported by air. The Medal was presented by Senator Lowell Weicker.
• 1974 Dr. Lee Talbot, who successfully fought the spread of cruel poisons on federal lands. The Medal was presented by Hon. Russell Train, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• 1973 Scott McVay who obtained the listing of all the great whales on the US Endangered Species List. The Medal was presented by Dr. Lee Talbot, Senior Scientist, Council on Environmental Quality.
• 1972 Russell Train, Chairman, President's Council on Environmental Quality, who obtained unanimous adoption of a resolution for a ten-year moratorium on commercial whaling. The Medal was presented by S. Dillon Ripley, Secretary of the Smithsonian...
• 1971 Congressman Thomas Foley Congressman Thomas Foley, who won enactment of the Animal Welfare Act amendments of 1970 including the requirement for "appropriate use of anesthetic, analgesic and tranquilizing drugs" for experimental animals. The Medal was presented by...
• 1970 Bob Cromie, whose hard hitting columns against cruel experiments by school children resulted in Westinghouse Science Fair prizes being changed to eliminate any experimentation on captive vertebrates. The Medal was presented by Senator...
• 1969 Stan Wayman, Life photographer, whose "Concentration Camps for Dogs" and other picture stories brought recognition to millions of people that animals need protection.
• 1968 Dr. John Quinn, State Veterinarian, Michigan Department of Agriculture, who created the first Animal Welfare Committee of the United States Animal Health Association.
• 1967 Dr. Francis Mulhern and Dr. Earl Jones of the US Department of Agriculture, who prevented much suffering by their enforcement of the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act.
• 1966 Senator Warren G. Magnuson and Senator A.S. Mike Monroney, who sponsored and fought for enactment of the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, passed by a vote of 85 to 0 in the United States Senate.
• 1965 Abe Fortas Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Abe Fortas, author of the first Federal bill to require humane treatment of research animals.
• 1964 Patrolman John Mobley of the Detroit Police Force, whose prompt reporting on suffering and neglect of experimental animals led to improvements in their care.
• 1963 Ann Cottrell Free, author and journalist, whose discovery and reporting on hundreds of Food and Drug Administration test dogs, perpetually caged in a sub-basement, led to Congressional action providing comfortable kennel runways for them.
• 1962 Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, for her contribution to the protection of animals from dangerous pesticides such as DDT.
• 1961 William H.A. Carr, author, reporter, and animal columnist.
• 1960 Isobel Slater, M.B.E., Founder, and Chief Z.S. Fundikira, President, Tanganyika Branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with 40,000 African members. Hon. G. Mennen Williams presented the Medals in Africa. In New...
• 1959 Congressman W.R. Poage, Chairman of the Livestock and Feed Grains Subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture, United States House of Representatives, and chief sponsor of the Federal Humane Slaughter Act.
• 1958 Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, author of the first humane slaughter bill introduced in the US Congress and chief Senate sponsor of the Federal Humane Slaughter Act, passed in 1958.
• 1957 Paul Kearney, author of "The Case for Humane Vivisection," the first article in a national magazine calling for humane treatment of research animals.
• 1956 Major C.W. Hume, O.B.E., M.C., B.Sc., M.I. Biol., Director-General of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) of London, author, speaker, and Founder of UFAW, which pioneered in enlisting scientific efforts for animal welfare.
• 1955 Dr. Robert Bay a veterinarian in charge of a colony of 500 experimental beagles, whose humane treatment of the animals exemplifies the purpose for which the Medal was struck.