Press Releases

October 3, 2006
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Michelle Pintar
Direct: (414) 431-6104
E-mail: mpintar@wihumane.org

Wisconsin Humane Society Executive Director
Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

MILWAUKEE – Victoria Wellens, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Humane Society, has received American Humane's Lifetime Achievement Award. This prestigious award is only given to a select few individuals each year for their investment of time and talent to the betterment of the care and treatment of animals.

Wellens has been the Wisconsin Humane Society's Executive Director for more than 12 years and is an active mentor to many people in the animal care community. One of her greatest accomplishments includes spearheading an $8.5 million capital campaign to build a brand new, 40,000 square-foot state-of-the-art animal shelter. The new shelter has helped to attract a new generation of supporters and set a standard for animal welfare facilities nationally. The modern facility serves more than 20,000 companion and wild animals each year.

Under Wellens' leadership, a strong transfer partnership with other animal welfare organizations has been established to save the lives of thousands of animals in Wisconsin and surrounding states. In addition, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Wellens coordinated setting up temporary shelter to house the animals that came to Wisconsin.

In addition to her efforts at the Wisconsin Humane Society, Wellens is a member of the River Revitalization Board in Milwaukee and has also served on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Milwaukee. She is President of the newly formed Washington D.C. based National Federation of Humane Societies and is a member of the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators Board of Directors as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Federation of Humane Societies. Wellens is also only of first and few professionals in her field to have received the prestigious Certified Animal Welfare Administrator's designation.

For more information about the Wisconsin Humane Society, please call
(414) ANIMALS or visit www.wihumane.org.

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