Aly Raisman Honored with Variety Courage Award

Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman has been honored with the Variety Courage Award presented by Purina, recognizing her advocacy for survivors of abuse and her efforts to highlight the healing power of pets. Fellow world champion Jordan Chiles presented the award, praising Raisman for using her platform ‛to change laws, hold institutions accountable, and create safe spaces for survivors.’

Raisman shared how her dog Mylo has been central to her recovery, underscoring how animals provide comfort and stability for trauma survivors. ‛Hope can look different to each of us,’ she said. ‛One source of hope for me has been my dog, Mylo. Almost five years ago today, I adopted him. It's hard to put into words the impact that Mylo has had on my life.’. The dog reminded her to never take for granted the love, safety and gift of being present, she explained.

Nearly half of all domestic abuse survivors delay leaving because they can't bring their pets with them, statistics have shown. Therefore, the Purple Leash Project, Purina and RedRover are expanding pet-friendly domestic violence shelters across the U.S., helping ensure survivors don’t have to leave their pets behind. Since 2019, the initiative has helped double the number of such shelters nationwide, saving lives – both human and animal.

Aly is the second survivor and advocate to be recognized with the Variety Courage Award presented by Purina. The inaugural honor in 2024 went to actor and advocate Sarah Hyland, who shared her own experience as a domestic abuse survivor at Variety’s Power of Women event presented by Lifetime in Los Angeles.

Following her award, Hyland partnered with Purina to launch the Courageous Together Collection — a curated line of items for pets and people designed to empower survivors and inspire conversation about the human-animal bond in recovery. Introduced in September, the collection is available at Shop.PurpleLeashProject.com, with 100% of proceeds donated to RedRover to help ensure survivors of abuse can stay with their pets as they seek safety and healing.