Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Inc. (WRR) Founder and President Lynn Cuny received the 2nd Annual Animal Grantmakers Melanie Anderson Lifetime Excellence in Animal Protection Award (LEAP) in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The award honors animal advocates who push boundaries, change the conversation and advocate for species and creatures often neglected or overlooked.
WRR provides services to injured and neglected wildlife at facilities in Kendalia and San Antonio. The group helps over 10,000 injured or abandoned animals annually and provides permanent care in large natural enclosures to farmed animals and non-releasable wildlife. Volunteers respond to over 17,000 phone inquiries and requests for help annually.
To learn more, visit wildlife-rescue.org or call the rescue hotline at 830-336-2725.
Compassion and Respect
Animal Grantmakers said Cuny has dedicated her professional and personal life to helping animals.
“Recognizing animal advocates who have made a substantial and sustained contribution to the field of animal protection, Lynn was chosen as the 2023 Melanie Anderson LEAP award winner for dedicating her professional and personal life to helping wild and domestic animals in need of safe and human rehabilitation and sanctuary, as well as for advocating for the humane and respectful care of animals for over 45 years,” Animal Grantmakers said in a statement.
“We are sure that Ms. (Annie Lee) Roberts would have been proud of Lynn Cuny for spending the majority of her life in the challenging field of animal protection, her huge accomplishments on behalf of animals to date, and for showing every animal, whether he or she is a jaguar or pigeon, the same compassion and respect.”
Animal Grantmakers is the nation’s only group of philanthropic funders focused on protecting and enabling the well-being of all animals.
Through Animals’ Eyes
Cuny is also the author of “Through Animals’ Eyes” and “Through Animals’ Eyes, Again,” books written for children but also appreciated by adults.
The true stories are complicated, cautionary tales about love, injury and the loss in the lives of wild animals unfortunate enough to have crossed paths with human beings.
In 2020, she told MyCanyonLake.com that she hopes to provide Hill Country residents with an inside look at what it’s like for animals displaced by explosive area growth.
She said the area has a people problem and hopes that educating residents about their four-legged and winged neighbors will protect wildlife from inadvertent harm.
There is no malicious intent behind any animal behavior, Cuny said. Living in the Texas Hill Country means embracing even predators like coyotes, bobcats and cougars as part of the natural order.
“Anytime that we can help people have a different perspective on animals, then we’re doing the animals a great service, and that is something I try to do with any story I write about animals,” Cuny said.
Reading her story “Seeing with New Eyes” on YouTube, she said it seems easy to take animals for granted. While people love and care for their dogs and cats, they tend to view most other animals as voiceless, emotionless creatures who live their lives “with an utter lack of desire, needs or reason.”
“I’ve often wondered what would happen if one day, everybody decided to spend one week of their life simply observing a backyard full of birds or follow their beloved companion animal about doing what the animal does — walking, scratching, napping or simply being,” Cuny read.
“Or really getting to know a cow, a sheep or a chicken,” she said. “Perhaps then ancient, now-sleeping sensitivities would once again awaken in us. I firmly believe our lives would be greatly enhanced.”
