Social Compassion 501(c)(3) and Social Compassion in Legislation, SCIL, 501(c)(4) are sister charitable organizations dedicated to saving and protecting animals. Your minimum donation of $250 will place you on our guest list, of course, we encourage giving more if it is within your ability to do so. This is our annual fundraiser, and all proceeds go towards to continuing our efforts into our 20th year of service in 2027.
Judie Mancuso is the founder, CEO, and president of Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL), a leading animal-protection organization dedicated to changing laws to save and protect animals. After decades of animal rescue, including volunteering in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Mancuso founded SCIL in 2007 to address the systemic causes of animal suffering through legislation. Under her leadership, SCIL has sponsored more than 80 bills, with 30 signed into California law, including landmark measures addressing animal cruelty, pet overpopulation, animal testing, the commercial sale of mill-bred animals, fur and wildlife, and emergency preparedness for animals.
Among her pioneering accomplishments, Mancuso led the effort behind California’s first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores and championed legislation prohibiting the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. She has also advocated for marine wildlife, spay-and-neuter access, plant-based food options, and stronger protections for animals seized in cruelty cases. Through nearly two decades of legislative advocacy, coalition-building, public education, and animal rescue, Mancuso has helped establish California as a national leader in animal-protection law and has dedicated her career to giving animals a voice in the halls of government.
Alya and Dr. Gary K. Michelson are transformative philanthropists whose decades-long commitment to animal welfare has helped reshape how communities protect pets and prevent animal homelessness. As founders and co-chairs of Michelson Found Animals, they have helped more than 6 million pets since the organization’s founding in 2005. Their pioneering work includes creating the nation’s first free national pet microchip registry, launching major initiatives to expand spay-and-neuter access, supporting pet-inclusive housing and surrender-prevention programs, and establishing the Michelson Prize & Grants in Reproductive Biology to develop a safe, nonsurgical sterilant for dogs and cats—an effort designed to reduce shelter euthanasia and prevent unwanted litters at their source. Through strategic philanthropy, scientific innovation, community partnerships, and advocacy, Gary and Alya Michelson have helped build scalable solutions to some of the most persistent challenges facing animals and the people who care for them.
Priscilla Presley’s lifelong commitment to protecting animals has influenced public education, humane practices, responsible pet guardianship, animal rescue, and stronger legal protections for animals. Some of Presley’s has advocacy includes ending the cruel practice of horse soring, ending the dog meat trade in South Korea, and opposing legislation that could impede investigations of animal cruelty, as well as the use of animal fur. In California, Presley testified before the state Senate in support of Social Compassion in Legislation’s sponsored legislative measure ACR 86, calling for expanded access to affordable spay-and-neuter services and greater efforts to address the state’s pet overpopulation and shelter crisis.
Diane Warren is an internationally celebrated songwriter and a longtime animal rights advocate through initiatives such as the Diane Warren Foundation, and the the establishment of Mousebutt Rescue Ranch in Malibu. Warren has personally intervened to save animals in crisis, including rescuing cows who escaped a slaughterhouse, and placing dogs in loving homes. Her advocacy extends beyond rescue: she has donated her Oscar-nominated song “I’m Standing With You” to a PETA campaign opposing the Iditarod, and donated her song “Free” to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Warren also wrote “(We All Are) Looking for Home,” a charity song supporting the Vanderpump Dog Foundation and raising awareness about cruelty to dogs worldwide.
Louise Linton is an actress, philanthropist, and longtime animal welfare advocate whose work spans direct rescue, wildlife conservation, animal-rights legislation, and efforts to end animal testing. Linton serves on the board of Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL), where she has advocated for stronger enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, particularly concerning puppy mills and exotic animals in circuses, and she has worked in Washington, D.C., to advance federal animal-protection legislation. She has supported international wildlife conservation and anti-poaching efforts protecting elephants, rhinos, and other endangered species.
Jim Greenbaum is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and longtime animal rights advocate whose work has helped advance the protection of farmed animals, the transition to plant-based food systems, and efforts to end animal suffering on a systemic scale. The Greenbaum Foundation is committed to giving to charitable projects addressing human and non-human suffering; particularly factory farming and laboratory experimentation, and animal advocacy. Greenbaum has additionally supported the creation of groundbreaking documentaries, including: Cowspiracy, What the Health, The Game Changers, and Seaspiracy – bringing the consequences of animal agriculture and the benefits of plant-based living to global audiences.
Lisa Bloom is a nationally recognized civil-rights attorney, author, and longtime animal-rights advocate. A vegetarian since 1977 and vegan since 2009, Bloom has publicly connected human rights, animal rights, and environmental protection, and regularly marches, speaks, protests, lobbies, and raises funds for animal-rights organizations. She publicly challenging the animal-agriculture industry’s treatment of animals, misleading portrayals of dairy production, and lending her legal expertise to the broader animal-rights movement. In 2023, Bloom represented vegan entrepreneur and animal advocate Miyoko Schinner in federal litigation involving Miyoko’s Creamery, bringing her legal expertise to the defense of the founder of one of the country’s best-known vegan food companies.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman has a longstanding record of using the justice system to protect animals and wildlife. During his tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the 1990s, Hochman prosecuted international wildlife-trafficking cases involving endangered species, including the smuggling of Siberian tiger and rhinoceros parts, bear bile, and other protected wildlife. Today, as Los Angeles County District Attorney, he has made animal-cruelty prosecution a priority, with his office filing 25 animal-cruelty cases, including 18 felonies, in a six-week period in 2025 and pursuing significant sentences and animal-possession bans for offenders. Most recently, Hochman and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office have become co-sponsors of Social Compassion in Legislation’s AB 2344, the Justice for Seized Animals Act, which would allow animals seized in cruelty and neglect cases to be transferred to appropriate care before criminal proceedings conclude and would strengthen courts’ ability to prevent animal abusers from possessing animals in the future.
Assemblymember Matt Haney is a legislative champion for animal protection who has made accountability for animal cruelty a priority of his public service. In 2026, he authored SCIL’s AB 2344, the Justice for Seized Animals Act, legislation designed to prevent abused and neglected animals from languishing in shelters as evidence while criminal cases proceed and to strengthen protections against repeat animal abusers. The bill passed the California Assembly unanimously, 78–0, and has received strong support from animal-welfare advocates and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Haney initially introduced AB 2344 as legislation to establish a statewide animal-abuse registry, demonstrating his broader commitment to preventing repeat cruelty and protecting vulnerable animals. His record also includes a 100% pro-animal score on the 2023 California Humane Scorecard, reflecting his support for a range of animal-protection measures, including legislation advancing alternatives to animal testing and other humane policies.
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan is a strong legislative advocate for environmental and animal protection, using his leadership in the California State Assembly to advance policies that safeguard wildlife, animals, and the natural world. As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, Bryan has played an influential role in legislation addressing California’s environmental and wildlife resources. His animal-protection record includes a 100% pro-animal voting score on the 2023 California Humane Scorecard, as well as support for legislation protecting migratory birds. In 2026, Bryan co-authored Social Compassion in Legislation’s AB 1382, the Ethics Over Aesthetics Act, which would prohibit the commercial importation and sale of certain genetically engineered pet animals created to produce cosmetic traits, helping prevent animals from being bred or modified solely for human aesthetic preferences.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is a longtime champion for animal welfare, advancing landmark policies to protect animals from cruelty and expand opportunities for rescue and adoption. In 2018, Blumenfield introduced the initiative that led Los Angeles to prohibit the sale of fur products, making the city the largest in the United States at the time to enact such a ban and establishing Los Angeles as a national leader in the fight against the cruel fur trade. In 2023, he again led a major animal-protection effort, introducing an amendment that won unanimous City Council support to draft an ordinance banning rodeos throughout Los Angeles; he has continued advocating for the ban’s final adoption. Blumenfield has also championed policies expanding opportunities for animal rescue and adoption centers and supported initiatives to strengthen Los Angeles Animal Services and improve outcomes for shelter animals. Through more than a decade of public service, Blumenfield has consistently used his position to advance humane policies and make Los Angeles a more compassionate city for animals.
Malibu City Councilmember Haylynn Conrad is a strong advocate for protecting animals during disasters and ensuring that emergency-planning policies recognize the vital bond between people and their animals. Following the devastating wildfires that have repeatedly threatened Malibu, Conrad became an outspoken supporter of Social Compassion in Legislation’s AB 478, legislation designed to strengthen emergency evacuation planning for people with pets and service animals. In her public support for the measure, she emphasized that Malibu residents have repeatedly risked their lives to save their animals and that communities must plan for animals as an essential part of disaster preparedness. In recognition of her leadership, Social Compassion in Legislation honored Conrad with its Civic Champion for Animals Award at its 2025 Heroes and Helpers event.
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