Eleven-year-old Thomas Ponce is no stranger to helping animals—that’s for dang sure!
In his spare time, Thomas raises money for PETA by organizing dog washes and attends protests against the circus and SeaWorld, and he’s even working on starting a second animal rights group at his school! Impressive much?!
Also, in 2011, Thomas raised more than $1,000 for the PETA Pack, PETA’s nationwide running team, and he even won the PETA Pack Young Achiever Award! These are just a few of the many reasons that Thomas has just received a Compassionate Kid Award from PETA Kids.
But wait! Want to know what else Thomas did to help animals? He saved a shark’s life! When Thomas recently encountered a person fishing who had just caught a shark and planned to eat the animal, he began to plead for the shark’s life. Thomas explained that sharks, like humans, are living, feeling beings and have every right to live. Moved by Thomas’ sincerity and conviction, the man released the shark back into the ocean.
Check out these pics of Thomas in action and always use your voice to speak up for animals! Need help getting started? E-mail us at peta2@peta2.com!