SALT LAKE CITY — Tino the tabby barely paused during his tabletop grooming to acknowledge the flashbulbs as his office mate and benefactor received a national caring award Tuesday.
Equitable Life and Casualty Insurance Co. chairman and chief executive officer Rod Ross and president Larry Thomas were supposedly just tagging along as Doug Jardine filmed Holly Sizemore, executive director of No More Homeless Pets, for a small segment on "Profiles in Caring," a TV show that features the good works of nonprofit agencies and airs on about 100 stations nationally.
Instead, the insurance company execs, who also sponsor the TV program, startled her with an "Ambassador of Caring" award and a check for $2,000 to help the agency in its quest to promote spaying and neutering of animals so that no unwanted animals have to be euthanized.
Equitable, which was founded by Ross' grandfather, has been presenting the awards to "worthy organizations" for about 41/2 years, handing plaques and checks to close to 100 groups. Some of the recipients are international in scope; all have American roots. One, called Assayo's Wish, for instance, is an orphanage started by an American teen who was born in Uganda and returned for a visit only to find that many of the children were literally "strays," with no place to live or learn. She raised money for an orphanage and school.
The award for No More Homeless Pets is not only a way to recognize all the pet lives saved by the group in its 10 years, but is also dear to Thomas' heart because his friend/owner/cat of 19 years recently died.
Ross said the cash award is largely symbolic but helps the agencies who receive it while often opening the floodgates to help them attract other awards and grants. Thomas called it "seed money" and said the recognition "primes the pump" to raise awareness of a group's good work and needs.
Sizemore said when the group started 10 years ago, "people thought we were crazy, that decades of killing surplus animals was a necessary evil." The group, she said, has proven that controlling pet populations can be done without killing.
e-mail: lois@desnews.com