It is celebrated on October 4th of each year, which is fitting since that is also the feast day of Francis of Assisi – the patron saint of birds and animals.
The mission of this day is raising the status of animals to improve welfare standards worldwide. Building the celebration of this day brings together the animal welfare movement, and mobilises it to become a global force in making the world that we live in a better and safer place for all animals.
The World Animal Day is celebrated in various ways in every nation, irrespective of political ideology, faith, religion or nationality. Through increased awareness plus education, we are able to create a world whereby animals are always acknowledged as sentient beings plus full regard is constantly paid to their welfare.
What is animal welfare?
The conditions of animals living and the way how they cope with are called animal welfare. An animal is in a good state of welfare if it is healthy, comfortable, and well nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter. Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry, and humane treatment. Protecting an animal's welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs.
Animal cruelty
Animal cruelty is the abuse toward or neglect of an animal. It’s that simple. Every 60 seconds, an animal gets abused. That’s unconscionable, especially in our advanced culture, but animal cruelty continues to occur all over the world. Some aspects of animal cruelty involve purposefully putting animals in situations that harm, scare, and terrorize them, while others simply result from people looking the other way.
Most animal cruelty investigations involve large-scale operations that victimize hundreds or thousands of animals at a time. However, animal cruelty takes place every day in all places, not just in the world of industrial animal agriculture. It might be happening inside your neighbor’s house, at an entertainment venue in your city, or at a lab near where you work. You’ve likely encountered stray animals throughout your life — companion animals that have been abandoned and left to fend for them.
Animals shouldn’t be suffered
Animal protection from human is the most important step of the animal rights movement. In other words, we want all animals to be free of suffering and death for human benefit, whether they’re slaughtered for food or used as test animals in laboratories. When animals are considered property under the law, there is no limit to the ways in which humans can exploit them. We need to change how we view animal rights and how those rights are handed over to our animal friends. No animal should be caged, beaten, stripped of its dignity, or killed just so a human being can have what he or she wants for dinner.
Humans don’t need to consume meat to satisfy their nutritional needs. Vegans get more than enough plant-based protein. Additionally, we have access to supplements if we need extra iron or B12 in our diets. Veganism is a fast-spreading movement and lifestyle choice that eschews taking from animals. It’s an offshoot of the vegetarian diet, but it spreads far beyond what we eat.
Simple steps to help animals
It’s very easy to help animals, no matter how old you are. If you’re interested in helping the animal rights movement succeed, there are several things you can do.
Stop eating meat
One of the most important things you can do is to stop eating meat and animal by-products. Commit yourself to a vegan or vegetarian diet. Going vegan means that you don’t eat, wear, or use anything that came from an animal, such as meat, milk, eggs and leather. Just by going vegan, you will save the lives of more than 100 animals every year!
Try to buy cruelty-free
Animals shouldn’t be blinded, poisoned, or burned just for the soap, shampoo, or lip balm we use. But in labs across the country, these things happen all the time. Take a stand against animal testing by buying only cruelty-free products.
Stop supporting animal entertainment industries
Animals used for entertainment at zoos, circuses, elephant rides, horse racing circuits, and the like are removed from their natural habitat to serve as human amusement, and often they are stuck in the industry for life—or until they can no longer “perform”— often in less than humane living conditions. While it may be cool to watch a dolphin jump through flaming hoops, you may want to consider other forms of recreation.
Protest for animal rights
You can become a one-person bullhorn for animal rights. Sometimes people are not comfortable protesting but you need to Protest against animal cruelty whenever you get the opportunity. If a friend asks why you don’t eat meat, explain. Share animal welfare stories on social media, write your legislators, and keep up with animal news.
