“A Voice for Animals” Contest Winners Devise Practical Strategies to Improve the Lives of Animals

Washington, DC—From examining how plastics smother and abrade coral reefs, to spreading awareness about donkeys being sacrificed for the donkey-hide gelatin trade, participants in the 2025 “A Voice for Animals” contest use creative prose and compelling imagery to inspire their peers and communities to advocate for species under siege.

The annual contest offers high school students ages 14 to 18 the opportunity to win cash prizes for essays, videos, or photo essays that explore strategies to protect imperiled species and mitigate animal suffering. The contest is sponsored by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the Humane Education Network.

Twenty-one entries won honors this year from a pool of more than 200. Submissions were judged on presentation, originality, and effectiveness of solutions to persistent problems. 

“These young advocates demonstrate optimism and ingenuity in tackling some of the biggest threats facing animals,” said Regina Terlau, director of AWI’s Humane Education Program and co-manager of the contest. “They don’t just research a topic—they launch petitions, create memorable TikTok videos, and volunteer with organizations on the front lines of animal protection.” 

The first-place winners are:

• Daniela Buitrón of St. John’s, Canada, for the video Wake Up World: The Galápagos Needs You!, which describes how human activities such as illegal fishing, plastic pollution, and unregulated tourism have harmed species endemic to the Galápagos Marine Reserve in Ecuador. Buitrón explains how satellite technology, coral reef restoration efforts, and educational campaigns about harmful single-use plastics are making a difference.
• Tucker Hankins of Hixson, Tennessee, for the photo essay Paw Scouts to the Rescue, which outlines Hankins’s efforts with his siblings to establish a nonprofit organization, Paw Scouts of Chattanooga, to provide needed items to animal shelters and pet rescues to promote animal health and well-being. So far, the organization has raised more than $5,000 and delivered supplies to seven area animal shelters.
• Makayla Sarsfield of Olympia, Washington, for the photo essay The Issue with Being an Ass, which explores how donkeys face abuse, abandonment, and even death from the cruel donkey skin trade. Although donkeys have made significant contributions to human progress, they are being killed in unprecedented numbers to produce ejiao—a gelatin that is made from boiling donkey hides and used primarily in cosmetics and traditional Chinese medicines. Sarsfield describes her experience caring for rescued donkeys Joey and Chandler as a volunteer at Serenity Now Animal Sanctuary in Olympia.
• Hannah Stratton of Hawley, Pennsylvania, for the active involvement essay Paws for a Cause: A Mission to Save Shelter Animals, which outlines her work with Future Business Leaders of America creating a successful social media campaign for a local animal shelter that helped double adoption rates and triple donations. Stratton and her partner rebranded Pike County Humane Society’s online presence, drafting vibrant, engaging posts that told the back stories of individual animals. They introduced features such as “Pet Tinder,” where followers could “swipe” through spotlighted animals, and hosted the organization’s first-ever “Met Gala” for pets, where animals dressed in costumes walked a mini red carpet.
• Akshaya Gowrabathini of Sammamish, Washington, for the active involvement essay Nine Lives, Countless Losses: The Hidden Environmental Toll of Feral Cats, which examines how feral cats contribute to environmental degradation and loss of native wildlife. Gowrabathini draws on her experience as a volunteer at a spay/neuter clinic to explore the ethical tension between caring for individual animals and protecting entire ecosystems.
• Katlynn Williams of Cocoa, Florida, for the essay Bottled Hope, which documents Williams’s efforts to reduce plastic consumption in her community to save marine mammals. Williams convinced her high school to stop selling bottled water and install refill stations, organized monthly beach cleanups, partnered with a local dive shop on “Dive for Debris” events, and persuaded her city’s environmental council to pass a plastic bag ban to help address this human-made crisis.
• Natalie Nguyen of San Jose, California, for the essay A Call From Our Feathered Friends: Protecting Waterfowl From Chemical Pollution, which explores the many ways that chemical pollution—from pesticide use to oil spills—harms waterfowl species. Nguyen recommends adopting stronger government regulations on the use of chemicals, monitoring site cleanups, and investing in advanced technologies to assist with site restorations.
• Jiayi (Iris) Li of Weston, Massachusetts, for the essay Bunny Spa Day, which examines the high abandonment rates and lack of legal protections for rabbits. As a volunteer with the House Rabbit Network in Massachusetts, Li has created videos to increase adoption rates and counteract widespread misunderstanding about rabbit welfare.
• Diyora Kabilova of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for the essay The Last Song of the River Dolphin, which documents the plight of India’s vanishing river dolphins. Kabilova organized a film screening and fundraiser to raise awareness about persistent threats to endangered river dolphin populations, including poaching, vessel strikes, and fishing gear entanglements.

Click here for more information on the “A Voice for Animals” contest and to review all winning entries.

In addition to the essay and video contest, the Animal Welfare Institute Scholarship program, now in its sixth year, recognizes high school seniors in the United States who are actively involved in helping animals in their schools or communities and plan to continue working on behalf of animals in college and beyond. Recipients each receive $3,000 for application toward post-secondary education expenses, along with a free subscription to the AWI Quarterly magazine. The 2025–26 scholarship cycle will open for applications on November 26.