Our fifth annual Pegasus Wings Awards ceremony took place on September 19 at the historic Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston, MA. We were honored to have Carter Luke, President and CEO of the MSPCA as our Master of Ceremonies. We recognized the following exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements in animal welfare and habitat protection:
Patrick McDonnell
Patrick McDonnell is a world famous cartoonist known for his comic strip MUTTS. Patrick is a renowned author and has won numerous awards for his environmental and animal advocacy. In addition to promoting companion animal protection and welfare through the messages in MUTTS, he unfailingly represents animal protection interests of species from swans to sharks to baby seals through his creative and artistic and educational medium.
Don Baur
Don Baur, is a senior partner at the highly respected law firm of Perkins, Coie LLP, headquartered in Seattle, Washington. He was formerly the General Counsel of the Marine Mammal Commission where he established a record of making legally sound and progressive decisions on behalf of marine mammals and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. While carrying on a major commercial law practice, Don has devoted his energies and expertise to pro-bono representation of innumerable animal protection and environmental interests most recently The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and the Coalition to Establish Release Protocols for Captive Orcas.
Wendy Benchley
Wendy Benchley is a renowned global voice for protecting sharks and safeguarding our seas. Wendy was married to Peter Benchley, the author of JAWS. She has established the Benchley Awards as a tribute to the life and work of her late husband and to modern day champions of Ocean Protection and conservation of beleaguered marine species.
Sharon Young
Sharon Young is the Marine Issues Field Director for the Humane Society of the United States. She is a valiant fighter for the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Marine Fisheries. She is well known nationally as the leading authority on specific marine animal protection and conservation interests, having been appointed to virtually every relevant expert National Marine Fisheries Service Commission. But her interests in species and animal protection are much more selfless and pervasive than just the Marine Issues. She has been well known as a volunteer wildlife rehabber on Cape Cod, and when poisoning programs were proposed for gulls and crows on the Cape Sharon again stepped forward, as she did to help build the case for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.
