Gretchen Wyler - Biography



		Feb. 16, 1932 Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Dec. 6, 1966 First involved in animal protection after visiting the local pound in Warwick, N.Y. October 1968 Founded an animal shelter in Warwick, New York 1971 Joined the Board of Directors, The Fund for Animals 1972 First woman to sit on the Board of ASPCA, New York City 1972 to 1978 Elected Vice President of Beauty Without Cruelty 1973 to 1991 Elected Vice Chairwoman of The Fund for Animals 1979 Sponsored a Resolution for Animal Rights in California State Legislature, passed and became first such Resolution in the U.S. 1980 Recipient of Order of Nature Award from the International League of Animal Rights 1981 Led successful battle to repeal pound seizure (selling of cats and dogs from shelters for medical research) in City of Los Angeles 1984 Recipient of St. Francis of Assisi Award from City of Los Angeles 1986 to Present Executive Producer of the annual Genesis Awards 1991 Recipient of Paloma Award from Los Angeles SPCA 1991 Recipient of Minnie Award from Actors & Others for Animals in Los Angeles 1991 Founded and became President of The Ark Trust, Inc. 1991 to 2006 Executive Producer of the Genesis Awards TV Special 1995 Recipient of Golden Paw Award from Warwick Valley Humane Society 1995 Conceived the life-saving Red Alert program preventing mistaken euthanasia in large shelters nationwide 1997 Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Humane Association 1998 Recipient of James Herriot Award from The Humane Society of the United States 2002 The Ark Trust joined forces with The Humane Society of the United States in August. Wyler became Vice President of The HSUS Hollywood Office. 2003 Recipient of Guardian Lifetime Achievement Award from In Defense of Animals 2005 Inducted into the Animal Rights 2005 Hall of Fame 2006 Recipient of the Free Spirit Award presented by the California Wildlife Center Died May 27, 2007