Alexis Ulrich

Alexis Ulrich

College sophomore Alexis Ulrich honored with Humane Teen of the Year Award for her work to protect seals

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  Alexis Ulrich, 2010 Humane Teen of the Year, is on a mission to stop Canada's cruel baby seal hunt. A. Ulrich.

"Where do you buy your fish?" That was the first thing Alexis Ulrich asked the waiter who arrived to take her order while out to eat with her mother one day.

Bewildered by the question, her mother asked for an explanation. "Because of the Canadian seal hunt!" Alexis replied. "We can't eat at a restaurant that purchases its fish from Canada!"

Alexis knows that boycotting Canadian seafood is an important part of the fight to end Canada's cruel baby seal hunt. When the waiter returned with the name of the restaurant's seafood supplier, Alexis searched on her cell phone and learned that the company did not import fish from Canada. Only then did she place her order. Had she learned that the restaurant did serve Canadian seafood, not only would Alexis not eat there—she would also request a meeting with the manager to explain why the restaurant should join the boycott.

Stopping Canada's cruel baby seal hunt is just one of the animal issues on Alexis's radar. From seals to homeless pets to orphaned animals in Africa, 19-year-old Alexis is dedicated to helping animals of all kinds. For her hard work, she was named as The Humane Society of the United States' 2010 Humane Teen of the Year.

Helping homeless pets

Alexis' first brush with animal protection came in high school when she started volunteering at animal shelters in her hometown of Denver, socializing cats and bringing them to visit with the patients at a local nursing home. "It was really good for the elderly residents to have an animal to pet and love, because many of them were forced to give up their pets when they moved to the nursing home. On the other side, it was really good for the cats to get some attention, because that is really important for cats in shelters."

When Alexis went to Arizona State University for her freshman year of college, she continued her volunteer work as a shelter assistant at the Arizona Humane Society. Now a sophomore at the University of Colorado, Alexis often uses her school projects as platforms to spread the word about animal issues—especially Canada's brutal slaughter of young seals.

Saving the seals

When Alexis first read about the seal hunt in an email from The HSUS, she didn't believe it was real. With some research, she uncovered the horrific facts about the hunt, and ever since, she has been working hard to raise awareness about the hunt and show people what they can do to help. "It's really hard for me to watch the videos and see the pictures," she says, "but I feel like when I do, it reminds me why I am fighting so hard. These are helpless creatures who are brutally killed for a small profit. I don't understand how the Canadian government can allow this to continue."

Recognizing that school assignments are an ideal way to get the word out, Alexis has taken her passion for the subject into the classroom. She wrote papers about it for her English class, where she also gave a presentation and encouraged her classmates to sign a petition against the hunt. She used the hunt as a speech topic in her presentational speaking class, where she gathered more signatures for her petition and passed out the seafood boycott pocket guide.

When Alexis starts an animal rights club on campus this semester, stopping the seal hunt will be one of the club's main priorities. She also plans to raise awareness of other animal protection issues, as well as fundraise and organize legislative action to protect animals.

Into Africa

In January, Alexis had the opportunity to take the winter break trip of a lifetime: She volunteered for a service project in Nairobi, Kenya, where she learned about the important work of the Elephant Orphanage Project of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The poaching of elephants for their tusks is a common problem in Kenya, and many of the elephants who are killed are mothers with dependent young.

"The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust rescues these baby elephants before they die from starvation. They raise the baby elephant just as the mother would," Alexis explains. "They teach them how to throw dirt and mud on themselves to cool down, they sleep with them to keep them warm, and they teach the baby elephant essential life skills that they will need in the wild. This is all in preparation for when they release them at age five."

Though it was difficult to hear the elephants' sad stories, Alexis found the experience "amazing." She knows that you don't have to travel the world to be a positive force for animals, though. To other young people who want to get involved, she advises, "Check out The HSUS website, humanesociety.org. Each issue is organized so well, with clear steps you can take to help. And I am glad to say, as a broke college student, that there are a lot of alternative methods of helping rather than just donating money."

Alexis isn't exactly sure what her future holds, but she knows she will continue her animal advocacy through college and beyond. "I cannot imagine that any other career would be as rewarding as one helping animals."

 

Humane Teen of the Year