World Animal Day is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually on October 4, which just happens to be the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
World Animal Day was launched by cynologist Heinrich Zimmermann on March 24, 1925, at the Sport Palace in Berlin, Germany. The event was an immediate success with over 5,000 people attending! Although Zimmerman tried to set the big event for October 4 to align with the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the venue wasn’t available on that day. It took another four years to get the annual event moved to October 4 in 1929.
Every year since its inception, 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.
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’s 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.
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