IFAW: TV favourite honoured for lifetime’s dedication to animals

Friday, 14 October 2011 11:44 AM

Much-loved TV presenter, artist and musician Rolf Harris is to receive a special award in recognition of his work with animals from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) at the House of Lords.

As well as being a household name through his TV and music career, Rolf (81), who was born in Australia but is based in the UK, has had a lifelong love of animals.

His work with animals is familiar to many through his 10 years presenting BBC1’s hit show ‘Animal Hospital’, which followed the real-life activity of a veterinary practice and covered many aspects of animal care and welfare. Viewers appreciated Rolf’s understanding and sympathy for the important bonds between owners and pets and the programme went on to win the National Television Awards ‘Most Popular Factual Entertainment Show’ five times.

Rolf also presented ‘Rolf’s Amazing World of Animals’ where he highlighted animal rescue and conservation projects around the world, including animal welfare issues such as the transportation of horses across Eastern Europe. Rolf has also produced a number of animal books and has incorporated animals and wildlife into many of his songs and paintings.

He has used his public profile to raise animal welfare issues close to his heart, particularly the plight of young harp seals in Canada, killed in their thousands every year to provide fur for the fashion industry. Rolf felt so strongly about the cruelty of the commercial hunt that he penned a protest song ‘Slaughter on the Ice’ to campaign for an end to the hunt.

Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “We are delighted to be able to reward Rolf’s dedication to animals with our Lifetime Achievement Award. His work on animal welfare issues, particularly the way he spoke out against the cruelty of the commercial seal hunt in Canada, has been valuable as we worked to successfully achieve a European ban on the trade in commercial seal products.”

Rolf will receive his award at IFAW’s prestigious Animal Action Awards ceremony, hosted by Baroness Gale, at the House of Lords on October 18.

He said: “I am thrilled to be honoured by IFAW for my work with animals. It’s something that has always been close to my heart. It was wonderful to be associated with ‘Animal Hospital’ and to feel such closeness with all the animals and their traumas and illnesses. The Canadian commercial baby seal slaughter is an issue I felt compelled to speak out against, and I’m glad that I was able to raise awareness of this merciless activity.”

Ends


For more information or photos please contact Clare Sterling in the IFAW UK Press Office on +44 (0)20 7587 6708, mobile +44 (0)7917 507717, email csterling@ifaw.org or alternatively visit www.ifaw.org

Stock photos of award winners are available in advance and photos from the ceremony will be available shortly after.

Notes to Editors:
Animal Action Awards, supported by Nat Geo Wild and the People newspaper, are part of IFAW’s annual Animal Action Week which takes place around the world involving thousands of schoolchildren who are motivated to get involved in animal welfare. This year’s theme is elephant conservation.

If you would like to nominate someone for an Animal Action Award for 2012 please write to: IFAW Animal Action Week, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7UD.

About IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
Founded in 1969, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. With projects in more than 40 countries, IFAW rescues individual animals, works to prevent cruelty to animals and advocates for the protection of wildlife and habitats. For more information, visit www.ifaw.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

 

Disclaimer: Press releases published on this page are from key opinion formers who promote their organisation's activities by subscribing to a campaign site within politics.co.uk. politics.co.uk does not endorse, edit, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases are wholly the responsibility of the originating company or organisation.

Related stories

Comment: The show must not go on for wild animals in the circus

Liz Tyson: 'It has taken six years and has included working groups, public consultations, parliamentary debates and even the threat of judicial review to get to this point.'

After a long struggle, the government has finally done the right thing and drafted legislation banning the use of wild animals in travelling circuses.

comments comments

Comment: If you want to be kind to animals bring back fox hunting

Jim Barrington: 'All it takes is for the majority of people, including politicians, to think for themselves.'

The fox hunting ban has done nothing for animal welfare. If you really care about animals, you should support its repeal.

comments comments

Govt proposes ban on wild animals in circuses

Animal welfare minister Lord Taylor described the practice of wild animals is circus shows as "outdated"

The government is moving to ban to use of wild animals like tigers, monkeys and zebras in circus shows.

comments comments

MP adopts humpback whale

MP Michael Foster adopts a humpback whale

Hastings and Rye MP Michael Foster has adopted a humpback whale to show his opposition to Japanese whaling.

Labour on hunting ban offensive

Hunting ban was a totemic piece of Labour legislation

Environment secretary Hilary Benn has written to David Cameron calling on him to change Conservative plans to repeal the fox-hunting ban.

Comment: Putting birds through hell for a hamper

Jenny Seagrove is an actress and animal rights activist

As an animal rights defender, I always fight for the underdog or, in the case of foie gras, the underduck.

comments comments

Record rise in animal experiments

There was a sharp increase in experiments on animals in 2008

The number of experiments on animals rose by 14 per cent in 2008, according to statistics published by the Home Office today.

Gone to ground? Fox-hunting enemies still wary of Tories

Expensive prosecutions against "barbaric" fox-hunting are justified, MP says

Modernisers in the Conservative party want fox-hunting to "go to ground", according to a Liberal Democrat MP.

comments comments

Primary schools mull 'halal-only' lunches

The halal meathod of slaughter is essential to Muslims, but is considered cruel by animal rights activists

Primary schools in Harrow are considering whether to accept 'halal-only' meals on offer from the council's favoured contractor, in a move which could enrage animal welfare groups.

Govt sanctions inhumane breeding of monkeys

Monkeys are bred and kept in "deplorable" conditions

The Home Office is allowing monkeys bred in "deplorable" conditions to be supplied to the UK for animal testing, an animal charity alleged today.

Press Releases

IFAW: Emergency cash sent to Cyprus to save animals threatened by starvation during financial crisis

IFAW calls on Japan to end its cruel whaling for good as fleet returns with lowest catch

IFAW: UK Government fails to commit to long-term support for the National Wildlife Crime Unit

IFAW: Incremental steps lead to leap in wildlife conservation at 16th CITES Conference

IFAW: CITES takes a bite out of shark fin trade

IFAW: Polar Bears Stuffed at CITES

IFAW: INTERPOL report shows Europe’s booming online ivory trade

IFAW: New research reveals true cost of Japanese whaling

IFAW: Mombasa Seizure Seals E Africa Reputation as Source for Dirty Ivory

IFAW: Korea rejects sham science, confirms plans to pursue non-lethal whale research instead of whaling

More Articles ...

Twitter

Join the conversation at #opinion_formers

Related Opinion Former Press Releases

IFAW Wildlife Rescue Centre celebrates 10 years and 1,600 animals saved

(Assam, India – 28 August 2012) - An elephant calf injured in a village, a rhino orphaned by poachers, a full-grown tiger discovered in a well and a leopard found in a house! These are four of 1,600 animals and 150 species saved in the last ten years at the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Wildlife Rescue Centre in northeast India.

Oiled birds released following care in RSPCA wildlife centre

Some of the oiled sea birds that have been cared for at an RSPCA wildlife centre in Sussex have been released back into the wild.

IFAW: Latest elephant tusk seizure in Malaysia takes toll to more than 3,000 in two weeks

Malaysian authorities seized 695 elephant tusks in Port Klang, just east of Kuala Lumpur, on Friday – the fifth major seizure involving Malaysia in recent months. Friday’s ivory confiscations were the fourth seizure in 14 days – during which time a staggering 3,194 elephant ivory tusks were captured.

Special event coverage

ESRC logo

Festival of Social Sciences: Celebrating the Social Sciences

Evidence-based policy should not be a radical concept. It needs to be celebrated.

ESRC logo

Festival of Social Sciences: 2 languages: 2 brains, 2 minds, 2 cultures?

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, the Deafness Cognition And Language Research Centre (DCAL) hosted an event exploring the powerful benefits of bilingualism in spoken and sign languages, for hearing and deaf people alike - benefits that reach hearing and deaf people alike.

Opinion Former Events

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition & Conference 2013

Following the great success of the BSIA's Information Destruction Conference and Exhibition in May 2012, we are pleased to annouce that the event is returning again in June 2013. This one-day conference and exhibition is aimed at key decision makers in organisations that carry out the secure destruction of confidential material.