This is the second year I will be attending the Genesis Awards presented by the Humane Society of the United States.  Last year, my writing partner Katerina Lorenzatos Makris and I arrived at the Beverly Hilton not having a clue what to expect.  We had just completed writing our book YOUR ADOPTED DOG, and were hoping to meet several HSUS staff members who had helped us bring this book to life.

An hour earlier, we had been in our rooms at the Motel 6, putting on our finest, black outerwear.  Katerina drove us into Beverly Hills in her husband's beloved Corrolla, exterior dents and all.  The valet was very kind.

The lobby of the hotel was packed with snazzy looking people.  Katerina is not a shy person.  She held my arm and drove me onto the red carpet.  A few yards in front of us stood the actress Alexandra Paul.  Alexandra is best known as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the television show Baywatch.  (She was the smart, athletic character).  And she had written the Introduction to our book.  We wanted to thank her in person, so despite the microphone an entertainment reporter was pointing at her mouth, Alexandra turned away from the cameras and reporters.  She seemed genuninely pleased to meet us and to talk about animals and their importance to her.

The rest of the event was as I suspect most of these awards shows are: speeches, lots of wine, video clips.  But I think it was the dogs who made this night different from most others.  They were in the audience, on the screen, in the speeches.  They shared the spotlight with animals of all sorts - polar bears, monkeys, whales.  And on each table were boxes of tissues.  Mascara down the cheekbones is not attractive. 

This year, HSUS will no doubt feature the recent undercover operation that has made the headline news: factory farmed "downer" cows subjected to horrific abuse on their way to slaughter.  This resulted in the largest meat recall in history, and the meat producer going bankrupt.  As a 25 year vegetarian, I look forward to clapping and cheering for that victory!

So, I invite everyone to come to the Genesis Awards.  If you like to mingle with celebrities, you will not be disappointed.  But if you love animals, this is an event where you may catch yourself looking across the sea of people all in one giant ballroom where millions of dollars and many human lives have been dedicated to ending the suffering of animals.