Ric O’Barry wins ASPCA Lifetime Achievement Award

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

Ric O’Barry, campaigning against dolphin captivity since
1970, on October 29, 2009 received the American SPCA Lifetime
Achivement award. The ASPCA honored Rolling Ranch Animal Sanctuary
founders Steve Smith and Alayne Marker, of Ovando. Montana, with
the Henry Bergh Award. About two-thirds of the 70 animals in their
care are blind. The ASPCA law enforcement officers of the year were
Tim Rickey and Kyle Held of the Humane Society of Missouri and
Missouri Highway Patrol undercover agents Terry Mills and Jeffrey
Heath, whose work led to an eight-state dogfighting raid in July
2009, including more than 30 arrests and the seizure of more than
400 dogs. The ASPCA Tommy Monahan Award, named for a 9-year-old who
died in 2007 trying to save his dog from a housefire, went to Monica
Plumb, 11, of Powhatan County, Virginia, who has raised funds to
donate more than 50 pet-sized oxygen masks to fire departments in
nine states. The Hingham Fire Department, also recently honored by
PETA, received the ASPCA Firefighter of the Year award. The ASPCA
Dog of the Year was Archie, 8, a black Labrador who assists
disabled Iraq veteran Clay Rankin. Cat of the Year was Nora, a
piano-playing former shelter cat whose YouTube performances have
attracted more that 15 million viewings.