Starting in 1931 at a convention of ecologists in Florence, Italy, World Animal Day was initiated as a way of highlighting the plight of the world's endangered species. World Animal Day took place on the 4th October as it is the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and has grown rapidly since then being widely celebrated in countries around the globe and encompassing the need to think about all kinds of animal life.
Not restricted to any one nationality, creed, religion, political belief or ideology, World Animal Day is intended as a day of celebration for anyone in the world who cares about animals. The launch in the UK on 4th October 2003 meant that organisations, groups, animal shelters, places of worship, schools, clubs and individuals participated in what was to become an annual event and, quite simply, helped make history!
Since the official World Animal Day website was launched in 2003, the number of World Animal Day events taking place throughout the world has increased year upon year, with the aim of the website being to encourage everybody to use this special day to commemorate their love and respect for animals, by doing something special to highlight the importance of animals in the world.
In order to celebrate World Animal Day this year, A-Z Animals will be doing something very special by donating the remainder of the stock from Sammy the Sheep's Shop to the EACH children's hospice centre based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Although this sadly means the end of our online shop, we strongly feel that our few remaining gorgeous animal toys will be in better hands with the brave children who attend the centre.
EACH (East Anglia's Children's Hospices) supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. They provide crucial care and support to patients and their families both at home or in one of the hospices in Ipswich, Milton and Quidenham. EACH is a registered charity that has to rely on the generous donations to them to raise over £4 million a year to continue the incredible work that they do.
If you would like to show your support to the EACH charity and genuinely help terminally ill children and their families for this year's World Animal Day, please use the following link to make your donation to them. After all...people are animals too!
Donate to EACH
WORLD ANIMAL DAY MISSION STATEMENT
Celebrating animal life in all it's forms
Celebrating humankind's relationship with the animal kingdom
Acknowledging the diverse roles that animals play in our lives from being our companions, supporting and helping us, to bringing a sense of wonder into our lives
Acknowledging and being thankful for the way in which animals enrich our lives
About World-Animal-Day
And...to celebrate World Animal Week this year (4th - 10th October), we will be posting a different blog article every day to highlight the plight of some of our lesser known animal species that are Under Threat.