Dr. Gregory Wolfus Designated a Trailblazer in Animal Welfare by Humane World for Animals

Partnering with our local community to help care for their animals is incredibly rewarding for the doctors and staff, and it’s precious to me, sharing this with veterinary students—understanding barriers to care and our responsibility as veterinary professionals to help people get care for their animals, regardless of how big the wall. It’s part of the Veterinary Oath when they graduate. Their responsibility is to help all animals, to help prevent neglect and suffering. That’s the most important part of being a vet.

— Dr. Gregory Wolfus

Humane World for Animals annually recognizes professionals across a spectrum of roles advocating for animals with the Trailblazers in Animal Welfare Award. Among this year’s impressive group of honorees is Dr. Gregory Wolfus, V98 (he/him), founding director of Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic and associate clinical professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

“While I’m honored to oftentimes be the face of Tufts at Tech, Drs. Jennifer Grady, Kayla Sample, and Nicole Freeman, all the volunteer doctors, and our incredible staff, they’re the ones who make Tufts at Tech special and run every day. They deserve this award as much as I do—it’s an amazing group of people,” says Wolfus.

Humane World for Animals’ Trailblazers Award spotlights individuals working and volunteering at organizations that protect and care for animals from underserved communities. Tufts at Tech provides affordable veterinary care to pets in need, while also training Cummings School veterinary students on clinical rotation and Worcester Technical High School students in the veterinary assisting program.

“Partnering with our local community to help care for their animals is incredibly rewarding for the doctors and staff, and it’s precious to me, sharing this with veterinary students—understanding barriers to care and our responsibility as veterinary professionals to help people get care for their animals, regardless of how big the wall,” says Wolfus. “It’s part of the Veterinary Oath when they graduate. Their responsibility is to help all animals, to help prevent neglect and suffering. That’s the most important part of being a vet.”

The Trailblazers were celebrated at Humane World for Animals’ 2026 Animal Care Expo this past April in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which brought together more than 2,800 animal welfare advocates from around the world. Humane World for Animals, a nonprofit organization previously known as The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, distinguished 34 professionals in 2026 with Trailblazers Award. The honorees hail from a variety of animal welfare organizations throughout the country, including animal shelters and rescue leagues, local Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCAs), low-cost veterinary clinics, domestic violence support organizations, and animal control agencies.

“That’s what’s really special about Humane World for Animals, to identify all the different players who are participating in animal welfare,” says Wolfus. “We’re veterinarians and veterinary educators, and we practice community medicine. There are so many other aspects to being an animal welfare agent. There’s no one else who recognizes people like that. Animal welfare is a large umbrella. Anyone who is an animal vet and anyone doing something positive on behalf of animals is an animal welfare advocate. I was surprised and honored they thought of me and incredibly grateful.”

Humane World for Animals recognized Wolfus for Tufts at Tech’s impact on the local community.

“When I received the award, they thanked me for being creative, for creating a nontraditional, innovative clinic that can teach students about medicine and surgery while also providing animal welfare,” says Wolfus.

Receiving this unique award also afforded Wolfus the unique opportunity to connect with his cohort of Trailblazers and other attendees at the Expo, sharing their perspectives and approaches to animal welfare. “Because of these individuals coming together, they have a platform to share these stories, hear about these programs, and grow from them. That’s what it’s all about for me, the cross-pollination of community ideas,” he says.

Wolfus met a teacher from Texas who runs a high school program training students to become veterinary assistants, similar to the veterinary assisting program at Tufts at Tech. Four students accompanied her to the Expo, before they traveled to Massachusetts to attend a conference of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP), and then added on a tour of Tufts at Tech with Wolfus.

“I met a group at the Expo doing veterinary chaplaincy,” adds Wolfus. “I went out to dinner with them and had an amazing conversation about the human-animal bond. If not for Humane World for Animals, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn that veterinary chaplaincy exists.”

On the heels of the Animal Care Expo, Wolfus sat on a panel with local animal welfare advocates, including “The Street Vet” Dr. Kwane Stewart, after he presented on campus at Cummings School and at Worcester Tech on his experiences treating the pets of people experiencing homelessness. He found Stewart to be an inspiration to students and the community. Similarly, Wolfus ended up out to dinner with Stewart and the other panelists, again enjoying the “cross-pollination” of ideas.

Humane World for Animals is the second organization recently to tip its hat to Wolfus and the work at Tufts at Tech. Last year, the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) selected Wolfus for the Distinguished Service Award, MVMA’s highest honor.