Awards

Ten days after Greg's death in October 2015, my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent me this message:

 

"We want to share something special with you for your consideration. We would very much like to honor Greg by creating an annual animal rescue award in his name. This award was inspired by Greg’s love for rescuing animals, which was especially evident through his willingness to bring [horses] Henry and Caroline to your home because he felt it was the right thing to do. Greg is an inspiration and we would love to be able to honor him for years to come. If you approve of this idea, we would name this special animal rescue award, The Gregory J. Reiter Award."

 

It goes without saying that I did approve! And I am so proud that since 2016, the Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund has partnered with PETA to present an annual animal rescue award of $1,000 to an organization or individual doing exceptional work for horses, dogs, cats, and other animals.

 

~ Alysoun Mahoney

 
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Awardees to date have been:

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2022:  Helga Tacreiter — for founding the New Jersey-based Cow Sanctuary and dedicating more than 30 years of her life to rescuing dozens of cows and other farmed animals — while inspiring people to value those animals’ lives as they value the lives of their dog and cat companions.

Sheila and Ingrid

2021:  Sheila Choi --  for founding and leading the Fuzzy Pet Foundation since 2005, providing spay and neuter services to more than 6,000 cats and dogs, and rescuing and rehoming more than 2,000 animals, in the Los Angeles region and beyond.

Alysoun and Julia Vertical

2020: Julia Novak -  for 10 years of volunteer work with PETA -- fostering rescued animals with special needs (including Itchy, who Greg and I adopted), helping PETA’s Community Animal Project fieldworkers serve animals in impoverished communities, participating in PETA protests and work parties, and coordinating vigils for factory-farmed pigs at a Smithfield slaughterhouse.

4th-Annual-Greg-Award-Paulette-and-Alysoun

2019: Paulette Dean -  for 27 years as Danville Area Humane Society Executive Director, and accomplishments including passing one of Virginia's strictest anti-tethering ordinances.

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2018: Stacey Norris - Houses of Wood & Straw for building over 1,000 doghouses for backyard dogs in Central Virginia.

unstoppable_vbspca_award_2_helena_a

2017: Virginia Beach SPCA for offering shelter and care for over 4,000 companion animals each year.

DC-Reiter500

2016: Katie McCotter of Suffok, Virginia for fostering horses, pigs, chickens and other homeless animals.

(6/6/22)