2024 Ann Cottrell Free National Press Club Animal Reporting Award Winners
L-R: Maya Trabulsi of KPBS Public Media, Amy Fan from Scripps News, Chiara Eisner of NPR, and Kevin Armstrong of The Star-Ledger
Watch video of them receiving their awards here.
Watch video of them receiving their awards here.
Print/Online
Winner: “Coastal biomedical labs are bleeding more horseshoe crabs with little accountability“ - Chiara Eisner, NPR
The judges selected this story as the winner because of its thoroughness, which detailed the little-known threats to horseshoe crabs, as well as its impact – which led to changes.
Horseshoe crab blood has been used for decades to test vaccines and medical devices for contamination. Reporter Chiara Eisner filed Freedom of Information Act requests in five states to demonstrate how information about the horseshoe harvest is kept from the public. She also obtained a secret recording that exposed how fishermen openly violate guidelines for handling crabs. She reviewed court records that revealed fishermen for one of the largest players in the industry – multinational biomedical company Charles River Laboratories – broke permit requirements by keeping female crabs enclosed in pens. Seabirds who feed on horseshoe crab eggs have also been adversely affected.
Shortly after Eisner’s stories were published, restrictions on the horseshoe crab harvest were added in South Carolina, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia approved a synthetic alternative to the testing ingredient. Industry insiders have credited Eisner’s reporting as a catalyst for these changes.
Honorable Mention:
“Death at the Racetrack” - Kevin Armstrong, The Star-Ledger
The judges also wanted to spotlight Kevin Armstong’s investigation of Monmouth Park, a mile-long horse racing track in New Jersey with an alarming equine mortality rate. His reporting uncovered evidence of erasure, lax licensing regulations, incomplete records and conflicts of interest.
Armstrong interviewed everyone from stable hands to the chief operator and discovered “The Pit,” a fenced-off area that lies beyond the public’s line of vision. Horses that are injured in races are brought there after being euthanized. Their corpses are left for collection by a pet-removal service. Armstrong supplemented his reporting with equine fatality reports and necropsies via public records requests and leaks.
The judges were impressed with the thoroughness of Armstrong’s reporting as he delved into this difficult subject. His reporting will hopefully prevent this from happening in the future.
Broadcast
Winner: "Animal rescue groups expose backyard doodle breeder" – Maya Trabulsi, KPBS Public Media
Using court records, original interviews and compelling tape obtained from animal rescuers, Maya Trabulsi documents how one backyard breeder kept goldendoodles – a popular breed – in deplorable conditions on her Mexico property. Videos showed Annette Rosenow throwing rocks and buckets at the dogs. There were dead puppies in a freezer, and some dogs were left so hungry they ate rocks.
The piece traces Rosenow's history of breeding violations in the U.S., where she was able to move her operations across counties because there's no central database tracking problematic breeders.
Trabulsi's entry is an excellent example of local reporting with national resonance: for unscrupulous breeders across the country; for government agencies in charge of oversight of breeders crossing state lines; and for people whose desire to become dog owners, especially of popular breeds, leads them to unwittingly support questionable breeding practices.
Honorable mention: "Racing to Death" – Patrick Terpstra, Carrie Cochran, Zach Cusson, Max McClellan, Linda Pattillo, Steve Turnham, Scripps News
Prompted by a spate of deaths among thoroughbreds in high-profile races, the Scripps investigative team uncovered a pattern of putting young horses through grueling sprints in order to raise their prices at auction. The practice has led to grave, and sometimes fatal, injuries among racehorses later in their career.
The team tapped industry experts including a top trainer and the nation's foremost horse racing regulator. And in the absence of credible data around racehorse deaths, they built their own database cataloging the number of horses that died in 2023 (298) and how many times young horses had been put through sprints (17,000).
The story led the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to consider stricter rules for young horses.
Winner: “Coastal biomedical labs are bleeding more horseshoe crabs with little accountability“ - Chiara Eisner, NPR
The judges selected this story as the winner because of its thoroughness, which detailed the little-known threats to horseshoe crabs, as well as its impact – which led to changes.
Horseshoe crab blood has been used for decades to test vaccines and medical devices for contamination. Reporter Chiara Eisner filed Freedom of Information Act requests in five states to demonstrate how information about the horseshoe harvest is kept from the public. She also obtained a secret recording that exposed how fishermen openly violate guidelines for handling crabs. She reviewed court records that revealed fishermen for one of the largest players in the industry – multinational biomedical company Charles River Laboratories – broke permit requirements by keeping female crabs enclosed in pens. Seabirds who feed on horseshoe crab eggs have also been adversely affected.
Shortly after Eisner’s stories were published, restrictions on the horseshoe crab harvest were added in South Carolina, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia approved a synthetic alternative to the testing ingredient. Industry insiders have credited Eisner’s reporting as a catalyst for these changes.
Honorable Mention:
“Death at the Racetrack” - Kevin Armstrong, The Star-Ledger
The judges also wanted to spotlight Kevin Armstong’s investigation of Monmouth Park, a mile-long horse racing track in New Jersey with an alarming equine mortality rate. His reporting uncovered evidence of erasure, lax licensing regulations, incomplete records and conflicts of interest.
Armstrong interviewed everyone from stable hands to the chief operator and discovered “The Pit,” a fenced-off area that lies beyond the public’s line of vision. Horses that are injured in races are brought there after being euthanized. Their corpses are left for collection by a pet-removal service. Armstrong supplemented his reporting with equine fatality reports and necropsies via public records requests and leaks.
The judges were impressed with the thoroughness of Armstrong’s reporting as he delved into this difficult subject. His reporting will hopefully prevent this from happening in the future.
Broadcast
Winner: "Animal rescue groups expose backyard doodle breeder" – Maya Trabulsi, KPBS Public Media
Using court records, original interviews and compelling tape obtained from animal rescuers, Maya Trabulsi documents how one backyard breeder kept goldendoodles – a popular breed – in deplorable conditions on her Mexico property. Videos showed Annette Rosenow throwing rocks and buckets at the dogs. There were dead puppies in a freezer, and some dogs were left so hungry they ate rocks.
The piece traces Rosenow's history of breeding violations in the U.S., where she was able to move her operations across counties because there's no central database tracking problematic breeders.
Trabulsi's entry is an excellent example of local reporting with national resonance: for unscrupulous breeders across the country; for government agencies in charge of oversight of breeders crossing state lines; and for people whose desire to become dog owners, especially of popular breeds, leads them to unwittingly support questionable breeding practices.
Honorable mention: "Racing to Death" – Patrick Terpstra, Carrie Cochran, Zach Cusson, Max McClellan, Linda Pattillo, Steve Turnham, Scripps News
Prompted by a spate of deaths among thoroughbreds in high-profile races, the Scripps investigative team uncovered a pattern of putting young horses through grueling sprints in order to raise their prices at auction. The practice has led to grave, and sometimes fatal, injuries among racehorses later in their career.
The team tapped industry experts including a top trainer and the nation's foremost horse racing regulator. And in the absence of credible data around racehorse deaths, they built their own database cataloging the number of horses that died in 2023 (298) and how many times young horses had been put through sprints (17,000).
The story led the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to consider stricter rules for young horses.
