Inkredible! Local 9-Year-Old Wins PETA Kids Award for Selling Custom Pens to Help Homeless Animals

For Immediate Release:
July 18, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-8382

A Hero to Animals Award is on its way from PETA Kids—part of PETA’s youth division—to 9-year-old Brody Baldwin, who has raised more than $4,000 in just a few months to provide food, toys, treats, and other supplies for cats and dogs in local animal shelters by crafting and selling his own line of decorative beaded pens.

After launching Brody’s Custom Pens this Spring, Brody—whose family has opened their home to a number of rescued companion animals—selflessly decided to use the proceeds to purchase desperately needed items for an animal shelter in Hamilton. Brody reportedly hopes to donate to a different shelter every month and plans to keep going as long as possible. 

“Homeless animals have a hero in Brody, whose huge heart and hard work are making a tremendous difference for those in need,” says PETA Vice President of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “PETA Kids salutes him for setting a shining example for young people by using his creativity to help animals in need.”

With millions of homeless dogs and cats in the U.S. at any given time, animal shelters across the country have been overwhelmed for years. To help curb the homeless animal overpopulation crisis, PETA encourages everyone to have their animal companions spayed or neutered and to always adopt animals instead of buying them from breeders or pet stores.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information about PETA Kids, please visit PETAKids.com or follow PETA Kids on Facebook or Instagram.