2018 marks 40 years since dishwashing soap brand Dawn began a partnership with California-based wildlife rescue rehabilitation centers International Bird Rescue and The Marine Mammal Center.
International Bird Rescue was founded in 1971, in response to an oil spill of 800,000 gallons of oil outside of the Golden Gate bridge. One of the largest spills in American history, it led to the beginning of organized response to wildlife. “At the time,” noted International Bird Rescue Executive Director JD Bergeron, “there was no recognized way to deal with animals, especially birds which are more impacted by oil spills than any other category of animals.” In 1978, the organization, dedicated to globally mitigating human impact on bird species, was still in the process of researching safe and effective means to cleanse wildlife affected by oil spills.
After rigorous scientific study, it was discovered that household good Dawn dish soap was not only tough on grease but gentle on hands and feathers, too, allowing rescuers to remove the oil from birds at the temperature needed to wash them. This began the history of Dawn donating their cleaning products to, and supporting, environmental conservations groups. The collaboration later grew to include the Marine Mammal Center, resulting in the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of more than 75,000 wild animals affected by oil spills and pollution to date.
To celebrate 40 years of saving wildlife, animal activist and actress Kate Mara joined the three organizations on July 19th in Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Terminal, where together they presented to a private audience a 3D projection of birds and marine animals “soaring” across the hall, representative of all those they’ve saved in the past few decades, made using wilderness using mapping technology.
Following comments from Dawn representatives, International Bird Rescue Executive Director JD Bergeron, and Marine Mammal Center Executive Director Dr. Jeff Boehm, Kate Mara was invited to take the stage and share her personal connection to the environmental cause. Mara, who is currently cast in FX’s Pose, received an Emmy Award nomination for her role in the television series House of Cards, and can be seen in season one of American Horror Story, has also done advocacy work across virtually all species of animals–including birds, whales, and chimps.
“My love for wildlife and environmental conservation defines and truly rules me. It’s not just a passion of mine, it is definitely a priority,” she said. “I grew up around animals and whether it was the family dog or the horses on my grandparent’s farm, I’ve always enjoyed the company of animals around me. But as I grew older, I sort of educated myself on animal welfare. I felt the need to help provide a voice to the animals that cannot speak for themselves. I feel deeply connected to International Bird Rescue and organizations like it because of the work that they’re doing to help rescue the animals that need our help and support,” said Mara.
Following her speech, The Knockturnal caught up with Kate Mara to discuss her animal rights activism and involvement with the #DawnWildlife40 campaign.
“It’s very important for me to partner with brands that give back in some way,” said Mara on her choice to be involved in the campaign’s celebrations. “Dawn has a legacy of giving back to wildlife. The fact that it’s been 40 years of them helping save wildlife is really impressive to me. They’re the people that literally dedicate their lives to saving animals; it’s important to me to support brands that have similar morals as I do.”
To learn more about the causes Dawn supports, Mara had the opportunity earlier in the week to visit the National Bird Rescue in California, where she assisted in administering exams to birds in rehabilitation. “I was able to actually see firsthand the volunteers there who, to me, are the most inspiring people,” said Mara. “They had interns there that were definitely younger than me hold holding these birds while they treat them and examine them and they helped them get better enough to release them back into the wild.”
With the state of science and environmentalism in the U.S. becoming increasingly more at risk, some are individuals becoming hesitant to join in on or support ecosystem rehabilitation and conservation efforts. As an environmental conservationist herself, “the most important thing is to educate people,” said Mara. “I think a lot of the people aren’t aware of just how our actions really affect our environment, and therefore the animals that live on our planet. I think the more we can educate people and talk about it and send the message out, the more people that would be on board.”
Mara’s take away from her own educational experiences is one of hope. “Hope for humanity and specifically for meeting all the volunteers that work there at the center.”
