RSPCA Humane Award
Due to the strict judging criteria only seven awards have been made since 1990. Recipients of the Humane Award receive a medal and a certificate.
Shane Pendlebury
The first RSPCA Australia Humane Award was made to Mr Shane Pendlebury, a young fire authority volunteer from Narre Warren in Victoria, who at great personal risk, crawled down a street water drain of 18 inch diameter to save a dog who was wedged inside. Mr Pendlebury received the Award from the RSPCA Australia Executive at the 1990 Annual General Meeting in Canberra.
Kim Scott
On 26 October 1993 Mr Kim Scott of Pelican, NSW was awarded the RSPCA Australia Humane Award. The award was presented by the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC, at the NSW RSPCA headquarters in Yagoona. Mr Scott risked his own life to save 25 donkeys from drowning in a flooded creek. Rising water trapped the donkeys and a wire fence blocked their escape. Mr Scott swam across the creek in the dark carrying a pair of heavy bolt cutters, cut the wire fence and led the animals to safety.
Thomas Windsor
The third RSPCA Australia Humane Award was presented by the Hon David Wotton MP at Barron Townhouse, Adelaide, on 31 October 1996 to the family of the late Mr Thomas Windsor. Mr Windsor was tragically killed on December 20, 1995 while saving the life of a koala. Mr Windsor had seen the koala on the road and was struck by a car when he got out to help the injured animal.
Guy Gorman
On 1 November 1999 the RSPCA Australia Humane Award was made to RSPCA Inspector Guy Gorman. Inspector Gorman heroically rescued a horse from the flood-swollen Gnarr Creek drain. He disregarded his own safety and refused to leave the horse until it was safe.
Guy Ellis
The fifth RSPCA Australia Humane Award was presented to 17 year old, Mr Guy Ellis. Mr Ellis dragged an elderly man from a burning flat then returned to the flat to rescue the man's dog, Buster. It is the opinion of the Fire Service that had Mr Ellis not intervened, the man, and certainly his dog, would have perished.
Greg and Evelyn Keyes
During the 2007 Kangaroo Island bushfires, the Keyes displayed courage, dedication and selflessness while helping save hundreds of animals. The couple, who were managers at Hanson Bay Sanctuary at the time, took in koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, snakes and birds while the fire raged out of control at the nearby Flinders Chase National Park. With little regard for their own safety and despite being ordered to evacuate, the Keyes stayed on at the Sanctuary to ensure the safety of the animals whose homes were now all but ash. The husband and wife team hand fed the majority of the animals, saving hundreds from certain death.
Orange SES Members Robert Stevens, Geoff Bruce, Graeme Bates, Sue Condon, Kate Pickett and Tony Jeffrey
On November 3 2008, six members of the Orange SES were awarded the RSPCA Humane Award for rescuing two dogs from a 4WD trapped in a flooded creek in October 2005. Volunteers Robert Stevens, Geoff Bruce, Graeme Bates, Sue Condon, Kate Pickett and Tony Jeffrey risked their lives to save the dogs from the raging floodwaters, in a precarious rescue attempt that took more than an hour.