Got this email, passing it on. Good job Libra Max:

"The Genesis Awards used to be run The Ark Trust, until it merged with
HSUS in approx 2002. The Genesis Awards, designed to honor those who
have made exceptional contributions to animal causes, are now run by
HSUS.

This is the second year in a row that Puck has been honored at the
Genesis awards for his contributions to animal causes.

Here is the text of the letter:
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My dear friends and fellow activists,

I find myself in the painful position of composing a letter to my own
community, my compatriots, the few fellow humans with whom I have felt
a kinship in our unified commitment to the animals. I am writing with
a self-consciousness that I am breaking with code by expressing
something I know many of us who come to The Genesis Awards are
feeling, but no one wants to openly say.

I am writing to express the sadness I felt upon opening my Genesis
invitation and seeing "Special Recognition, Wolfgang Puck." My heart
hurt then and still does. My conscience simply will not allow me to
attend an evening that both approves of the use of animals for food by
promoting Puck, while claiming to work against cruelty. It is more
than misleading and confusing; it is hypocrisy and an unconscionable
betrayal of the animals for whom we had promised to stand.

I do welcome pluralism within our movement, but this has gone beyond
diversity among activist groups; we are now in collusion with the meat
industry. I do not believe that spotlighting Puck in a celebratory way
falls into even the broadest definition of reform or welfare. Some
might argue that a 'thank you' to Puck for removing foie gras and
crated veal from his menu was appropriate. However, to recognize him
at an animal event two years in a row, and to prominently feature him
on the Genesis invitation in a manner that gives the distinct
impression that he is the singular guest of note, is not only
inappropriate, it sends a profoundly toxic message to the less
informed people who come to Genesis with an authentic desire to help
the animals.

Honoring Puck sets a potentially malignant precedent with the
influential, moneyed, and media attendees like Anderson Cooper: Is
Puck the face of our movement? Whether or not Puck will be in
attendance is immaterial; the message is being sent.

Puck's new restaurant is called 'CUT.' Does this celebration of pain
sound like it comes from someone who cares about animals? Or just a
savvy business person who has removed two of the most egregious forms
of cruelty from his menu, only to replace this cruelty with a higher
volume in sales of "humanely raised" animal parts. He has used his
relationship with HSUS as a successful marketing ploy to increase
diminishing veal sales. According to the New York Times, his "humane"
veal schnitzel is the third most popular item on his menu and what
used to be considered a taboo food item is newly chic and skyrocketing
in sales since receiving the "humane" stamp of approval. What are we
doing? Why are we doing PR for Puck? He was thanked last year. Any
further recognition or dealings should remain in the boardroom, not at
Genesis. No matter how he is cloaked in celebrity, he is a person who
makes his living by causing suffering. There is no way around this
truth.

We are far more forgiving of the food animal abuser than we would be
of those who inflict torture upon dogs, cats, or mink, for example.
Can we imagine featuring Blackglama Mink at Genesis if the mink were
"cage free" before electrocution? Each one of the millions of cows,
pigs, chickens, and baby calves that Puck serves up had once valued
their lives the way we value our own. They were to themselves, and to
their family members, beings of great importance who believed with
absolute certainty that their lives were worth living.

I hope for us all to do better, mostly myself, which is the very
reason I felt I had to write to all of you on the eve of Genesis. I
have to live the kind of world I want to see and my activism and my
life must be a daily reflection of that vision. I hope for us all to
more critically examine the consequences of our actions and how our
public alignments impact thinking in the world. We are powerful, more
than we know, and so we must remain vigilant not to tacitly condone
abuse and killing by promulgating the "humanely raised" myth. It only
reinforces the thinking that animals are mere pieces of property and
helps the meat and dairy industry to sell more pain. If we remain in
collusion with those who believe the animals don't matter, well, the
animals will never matter.

My wish for our movement is to raise ourselves to a place of integrity
and truth telling and to imagine what we would most desperately hope
for if we were forced to rely on someone else to fight for our lives.
We owe this to the animals. We are all they have.

I write to you with respect and in kinship.

Libra Max
Genesis Awards Committee"