International Animal Day – October 4th

World Animal Day is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

World Animal Day is an international day of action to raise the status of animals and improve their welfare and is celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. First held in 1925, the day is a means of drawing attention to animal welfare issues across the globe by encouraging businesses, schools, clubs and others to organise and participate in various World Animal Day events, with the goal of improving the lives of all animals through recognition and awareness.

Historically, the day was initiated by its originator, cynologist and animal protection activist Heinrich Zimmermann, but today, the yearly global celebration of animals is spearheaded by UK-based animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation. In 2003, Naturewatch Foundation launched the first World Animal Day website, which the charity still maintains. The website lists global World Animal Day events that take place on and around World Animal Day and encourages supporters to add their own events to the directory. The World Animal Day website also offers hundreds of ideas of how to get involved with the special event and provides a ‘resources’ section to guide supporters to actions that their group can take.

In 2007, it also established a worldwide voluntary Ambassador programmer. World Animal Day now has a network of 97 ambassadors from animal organisations in over 70 countries around the world, including Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of the Animals Asia Foundation. World Animal Day Ambassadors can apply for annual grants, sponsored by Naturewatch Foundation, to fund animal welfare projects in their country. These grants are awarded to projects that they believe will have a significant and lasting impact on animal welfare. Grant submissions are usually accepted between February and May and announced in August. The World Animal Day movement is also supported and endorsed by a number of celebrities, such as Anneka Svenska, Brian Blessed and Melanie C.

The mission of World Animal Day is “to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe. Building the celebration of World Animal Day unites the animal welfare movement, mobilising it into a global force to make the world a better place for all animals. It is celebrated in different ways in every country, irrespective of nationality, religion, faith or political ideology. Through increased awareness and education we can create a world where animals are always recognised as sentient beings and full regard is always paid to their welfare.”

World Animal Day, was originated by cynologist Heinrich Zimmermann. He organised the first World Animal Day on March 24, 1925, at the Sports Palace in Berlin, Germany. Over 5,000 people attended this first event. The activity was originally scheduled for October 4, to align with the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. Unfortunately, the venue was not available on that day. The event was then moved to October 4 for the first time in 1929. Every year, Zimmermann worked tirelessly on the promotion of World Animal Day. Finally, in May 1931 at a congress of the International Animal Protection Congress in Florence Italy, his proposal to make October 4 World Animal Day universal was unanimously accepted and adopted as a resolution.

It is sometimes cited, incorrectly, that World Animal Day started in 1931 at the convention of ecologists in Florence, Italy, who wished to highlight the plight of endangered species.

In 1948, Australian celebrations were organised by the RSPCA. According to The Examiner, the construction of a boarding home for dogs was scheduled and a donation had been received from the L.G.R.C.[10] Since 2002, The Finnish Association of Animal Protection Associations (SEY) has organized various events during Animal Week and distributed material to schools. Today, World Animal Day is growing into a global event that unites the animal protection movement, led and sponsored by UK-based animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation since 2003. On October 27, 2006, the Polish parliament adopted a resolution on the establishment of October 4 as Animal Day.