Floridians with 'animal instincts'

Bob Reina
Founder/CEO, Talk Fusion - Brandon (Hillsborough County)

Reina adopted Bindi, who had been attacked by an alligator. [Photo: Gen Yamaguchi/Tampa Bay Times]

The success of Bob Reina’s video communications company has allowed him to give back. He sits on the board of directors of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and has been recognized locally and worldwide for his dedication to helping animals find homes, increasing donations to the Humane Society and various animal rescues and lowering euthanasia rates. Recently, Reina pledged $1 million — the largest single donation in the Humane Society’s 100-year history — to fund the building of the Talk Fusion Animal Health Center, a veterinary services facility to provide low-cost full-service animal health care.

» The beginning: “My first chance at helping spread the word came in 2008, when I rescued my dog Bindi from Hillsborough County Animal Services,” he says. “She was a stray horribly injured by an alligator. I paid for the lifesaving amputation of her front leg and a heartworm treatment, then I adopted her. As I was going through Bindi’s recovery at animal services, I saw dogs sprawled on concrete kennel pads at the Hillsborough County animal shelter. The situation inspired me to help those animals, too.”

» Initiatives: Donated more than 300 beds to Hillsborough County Animal Services, $60,000 to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay to build an 18-pen enclosure for older dogs, and created a marketing program for Hillsborough County Animal Services.

Reina pledged $1 million for the Talk Fusion Animal Health Center in Tampa.

Arthur E. Benjamin
Entrepreneur/angel investor - Delray Beach

Benjamin visited the harp seal nursery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

After losing his wife to breast cancer in 2004, Arthur Benjamin was sitting on the couch with Buddy, his wife’s seizure-prediction service poodle. “We were watching all the dogs and cats being left behind in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” he says. That’s when he decided to adopt one of those pets, a 6-pound poodle, which he named Holly. “I became an animal advocate and fundraiser,” Benjamin says. This spring, he traveled to Canada to visit the harp seal nursery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and document the inhumane practices of seal hunting in one of the last locations where it’s still legal.

» Other pets: Tex, an 80-pound boxer, and Bandit, a 15-pound Shih Tzu

» Involved: National council member of the Humane Society of the United States; chairman of the advisory board of paws4people, paws4vets and paws4prisons; adviser to Salt Lake County Animal Services, which has lowered euthanasia rates from over 50% to less than 5%; founder, American Dog Rescue, a national non-profit of which he was CEO for three years, bringing 14 “dogs of war” back to their U.S. veteran friends in 2011.

Tammie Bettinger
Disney senior research biologist - Orlando

“I grew up around animals,” says Tammie Bettinger, “so it was common for me to rescue birds that had fallen from trees, baby squirrels and orphaned raccoons.” As a child, she learned how to care for them from her mother, who was a nurse.

» Credentials: Bettinger has a doctorate in zoology from Oklahoma State University and 20 years of experience in zoo research and conservation.

» Making her mark: Bettinger coordinated a workshop in Uganda to bring together people working across Africa in sanctuaries caring for illegally captured chimps, gorillas and monkeys. Her work helped spark the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, which eventually reintroduces the animals to the wild. She also works with Grace, which provides care for endangered gorillas and trains Congolese people to care for and manage their wildlife.

» At home: “I have two cats and two dogs. I am convinced my Italian greyhound is the sweetest dog on Earth.”