Bless the beasts

Silky soft puppies, sweet-faced kittens and fuzzy polar bear cubs -- now that's our idea of a good group of featured performers at an awards show. So much more relatable than Price Waterhouse and more articulate than Cameron Diaz.

So, color us interested in the upcoming Genesis Awards to be handed out next month (more trophy-show business for the Beverly Hilton!) by the Humane Society of the U.S.

But as THR's Gregg Kilday reports the nominations today, it's apparent that the awards for entertainment that gives props to animal welfare issues won't be all cute and cuddly.

Sure, there's "Year of the Dog," a Mike White indie charmer about a mousy assistant (Molly Shannon) who finds her voice as a vegan animal activist/serial dog rescuer, and "Arctic Tale," which spliced together a lot of nature footage of polar bears and seals, taking care not to show the inherent carnage in that relationship, all to a soothing yet hip-hoppy Queen Latifah voiceover.

But there are also nods to news segments, documentaries and magazine shows about dog fighting, pig farm abuse (we do not want to know), dolphin slaughter, puppy mills and deplorable conditions at the Baghdad Zoo.

Go with God, people, and continue this worthy work, but those are clip reels even more excruciating than anything we sat through on Sunday night. We're out.