‘Up,’ ‘Hotel For Dogs’ & ‘The Cove’ Top Genesis Awards

Fresh off their recent Academy Award wins, “The Cove” and “Up” were among the major honorees at The Humane Society of the United States’ 24th Genesis Awards, presented on Saturday at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. The Genesis Awards is the only awards show of its kind honoring the news and entertainment media for raising awareness of animal protection issues.

This year’s event featured actress Kristen Bell and actor Michael Vartan introducing a special tribute to dogs, and was a banner night for dolphins and big cats.

“The Cove,” which is a searing indictment of Japan’s dolphin slaughter, carried off the Genesis Outstanding Documentary Film award, adding this significant honor to a growing list of international accolades. Keely and Pierce Brosnan presented the award to director Louie Psihoyos. Tying for Outstanding Feature Film were the Academy Award-winning “Up” and “Hotel For Dogs,” both of which offered meaningful messages about the importance of the human-animal bond.

Big cats had their moment in the Genesis spotlight when Melanie Griffith presented her mother, actress and animal advocate Tippi Hedren, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Recognized for her tireless advocacy on behalf of captive big cats, Tippi, who runs the Shambala Preserve, a sanctuary for discarded exotic felines in California, was given a standing ovation.

Among this year’s celebrity presenters and attendees were Antonio Banderas, Kristen Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Emily Deschanel, Jessalyn Gilsig, Ginnifer Goodwin, Melanie Griffith, Teri Hatcher, Tippi Hedren, Jon Lovitz, Access’ own Maria Menounos and Moby.

The 24th Genesis Awards will air on Animal Planet on April 24 and April 25.

The full list of winners:

Feature Film: (tie) “Hotel for Dogs” & “Up”

Documentary Film: “The Cove”

Sid Caesar Comedy Award: “Family Guy” for episode “Dog Gone”

Dramatic Series: “Bones” for episode “The Tough Man in the Tender Chicken”

Children’s Programming: Nick News with Linda Ellerbee for episode “Kids to the Rescue! Helping Homeless Animals”

TV Newsmagazine: Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, multiple segments

News Feature: KCBS / KCAL TV (Los Angeles) “Animal Shelter Abuse” and “Faux Fur Investigation”

News Series: KLAS-TV 8 (Las Vegas) I-Team: “Shark Fin Soup”

Morning News Show: NBC’s “Today” multiple segments by Jill Rappaport

Talk Show: “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” for “Eating Animals,” by author Jonathan Safran Foer

TV Documentary: “Death on a Factory Farm”

Reality Series: “Whale Wars” for episode “The Stuff of Nightmares”

TV Film: “A Dog Named Christmas”

Brigitte Bardot International Win: “Bear Sanctuary”

Outstanding Written Word Series of Newspaper Articles: Isthmus (Wisconsin) multiple articles by Bill Lueders

Newsmagazine: Time, “The New Age of Extinction” and “The Real Cost of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh, and “Abused No More” by David Von Drehle

Magazine: O Magazine, “What Are They Thinking?” by Eugene Linden, “Wild Things” by Rick Bass, and “Operation Rescue” by Barry Yeoman

Brigitte Bardot International Print: The Independent (UK) multiple articles by Martin Hickman

Lifetime Achievement Award: Tippi Hedren