Vegetarian Star

Emily Deschanel and Tippi Hedren were both recognized recently for their contributions to animal welfare. Deschanel received the Humane Society’s Humane Advocate Award for her work with their Prop 2, anti-dog fighting and other campaigns. In the spirit of the holiday season, Hedren was praised by The Grinch and other members of Whoville from the cartoon “Whorton Hears A Who” with the Whomanitarian Award for getting legislation passed to protect big cats and caring for rescued tigers, lions and other cats at the Shambala Preserve, which she founded.

Between the two animal heroes, who would you…

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Tippi Hedren has been honored with the first ever “Whomanitarian Award” at Universal Studios for her work to protect big cats and take care of them at the Shambala Preserve. Hedren was presented with the award from several dozens of children, Whoville characters from “Whorton Hears A Who” and the infamous Grinch.

Hedren has helped bring two bills to the federal limelight in an attempt to protect big cats. “The Captive Wildlife Safety Act,” signed by Bush in 2003, stops the interstate trafficking of big cats sold as pets. There’s also the “A Federal Bill to Ban the Breeding of the Exotic Feline for Personal Possession,” which is designed to end the breeding of these animals in captivity. Hedren said the only thing standing in the way of her second bill is companies who use big cats for entertainment

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Lily Tomlin will be a guest speaker at the screening of the film, “Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy” at the Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood on January 20, 2011, as part of the “Kat Kramer’s Films That Change the World” series.

The film, produced by Melya Kaplan and directed by Jacek Kropinski, chronicles the history of elephants in captivity for entertainment and film purposes and offers solutions to combating the problem today, when animal welfare activists are still fighting for causes such as “Billy The Elephant,” a large creature held at the Los Angeles Zoo that many want released to a sanctuary.

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Tippi Hedren has been honored for her work with big cats by the number one online women’s networking site, BraveHeartWomen.com. The actress is one of the recipients of the 2010 annual Brave Heart Awards.

According to West Side Today, the Brave Heart Awards honors those who are “inspiring trailblazers who have transcended above the preconceived ideas of empowered individuals.” The awards were launched in 2009 by author and motivational speaker Ellie Drake.

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Tippi Hedren, founder of the sanctuary to 61 lions, tigers and other big cats, was recently on “The View From The Bay” to discuss the Shambala Preserve for cats and animal rights.

Tippi lives on the site of the sanctuary, and although tours are given once a month for a small donation, Tippi insists the animals aren’t there just to be watched and entertain, but it’s there “home.”

“I, along with millions of people are fascinated by the exotic feline,” the mother of actress Melanie Griffith says.

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Tippi Hedren went from starring in Birds to caring for cats.

The actress founded the Shambala Preserve, a home to tigers, lions and other big kitties that include Michael Jackson‘s Thriller and Sabu tigers.

Hedren’s life with big cats started in the 80s when she produced and starred in the film with African Lions, Roar, inciting her interest in the giant creatures.

Hedren was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Humane Society’s Genesis Awards.

“It’s such a gift to have a mission that you feel really strongly about,” Hedren says in the video.

More information on the Shambala Preserve can be found on its website.

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Tippi Hedren will be presented the Humane Society of the United State’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s 24th annual Genesis Awards.

“She started speaking out against the commercial breeding and private ownership of big cats years before it became a widely recognized problem,” said Beverly Kaskey, a senior director from the Humane Society of the United States and executive producer of the awards gala.

Hedren, the star from the Alfred Hitchcock classics “The Birds” and “Marnie” established the Shambala Preserve, a sanctuary for big cats such as lions and tigers rescued from circuses and zoos.

She also co-authored the Captive Wildlife Safety Act.

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This just in from TMZ.

The Shambala Preserve, where Michael Jackson’s old tigers Thriller and Sabu are housed, is close to where the California wildfires are taking place.

However, despite mandatory evacuations, sanctuary officials are not going anywhere.

“We house 64 big cats and it would be a logistical nightmare to bring all these cats down the road and get in the firefighters way of doing their job,” Tippi Hedren, owner of the sanctuary said.

The sanctuary staff plans to stay on the grounds with the tigers and ride the fire out.

What do you think?

Should there have been more emergency plans on part of the sanctuary in case of a situation like this?

Hard to move 64 tigers, but when you have a sanctuary in a place where you know disasters like these happens…kind of like buying ocean front property without flood insurance.

We hope things turn out okay.

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