There is Style in Giving Back: The Genesis Awards

The old saying "every dog gets his day" came true last week at the Humane Society of the United States 24th annual Genesis Awards - think of it as Oscar night for the animal kingdom.  The star studded awards show celebrates individuals and the media who make a difference on behalf of animals.

Celebrity presenters such as Keely Shaye and Pierce Brosnan, Antonio Banderas, Big Love's Ginnifer Goodwin and Teri Hatcher gave awards to shows such as the Academy Award winning Up and The Cove to the Ellen Degeneres Show, Family Guy and Whale Wars.

Mr. and Mrs. Brosnan

Ginnifer Goodwin

Teri Hatcher

Melanie Griffith presented her mother Tippi Hedren (many will remember her in Hitchcock's The Birds and Marnie) with the Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of her work for the preservation of big cats. For over forty years she has worked tirelessly in raising awareness and on legislation to ban the breeding and trade of exotic cats. Hedren's Shambala Reserve is a loving home to 70 discarded big cats -- leopards, servals, tigers, panthers, bobcats and lynxes to name a few. The reserve is forty miles outside of Los Angeles and open to the public. Congratulations Tippi!

Tippi Hedren

Hedren with daughter Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas

Jazzy the bobcat

Rowdy the Lion

The show will air on Animal Planet April 24th at noon and April 25th at 1:00 PM Eastern time.
To read more about the Genesis Awards, see their website. For the Humane Society, go here.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of the Humane Society and Tim Long/Long Photography and Shambala Reserve. The Birds courtesy of Universal Pictures.