Animal Awareness Days
Global animal protection is a critical issue that many fight for and face daily. World Animal Day helps bring people together to increase awareness and improve education worldwide so animals can live the lives they deserve.
World Animal Day is celebrated annually on October 4th.
World Animal Day, sometimes referred to as world Animal Welfare Day or World Animal Protection Day is an annual event on the 4th of October, celebrating animal rights and welfare across the globe. It’s an important day and has been marked since 1925, with a growing international community striving to end the needless suffering of all animals.
By increasing awareness and improving education worldwide, those involved are helping to create a space recognising wild and farmed animals as sentient beings with thoughts, feelings, and individual personalities. Their animal welfare practices, and treatment must reflect this.
With its international reach, many people around the world celebrate World Animal Day in different ways. Businesses and individuals can give a voice to animals by celebrating World Animal Day in various ways, whether that’s through a fundraising event for charities supporting protection efforts, a goods donation drive or education sessions, there are so many options for everyone to get involved.
World Animal Day was first celebrated on 24th March 1925 in Germany. It was started by Heinrich Zimmermann, a cynologist, who organised the first celebration at the Sports Palace in Berlin, which was reportedly attended by over 5,000 people.
World Animal Day is celebrated yearly on October 4th to align with the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology and animals.
Building the celebration and awareness of World Animal Day mobilises people globally for action now, which makes a better future for animals.
Vote in the Wild Animal Unique Personality Award!
This is your chance to join the global celebration of animals, raise awareness for wildlife protection, and cast your vote for your favourite wild star. Voting is open from October 4th through October 25th, 2024—so let’s meet the finalists and get ready to support these incredible creatures!
As an international event, World Animal Day is celebrated in different ways around the world. It doesn't matter where you live, or whether you’re an individual or business, you can celebrate by:
No matter your nationality, religion or faith, you can be involved with this important day.
Annually, 80 billion land animals, including chickens, pigs, and cows, are used for farming. It is estimated that 56 billion are trapped in food systems. This vast number does not even include the billions of aquatic animals who are locked in underwater factories, out of sight and very much out of mind.
On factory farms animals live in unnatural environments and endure needless and extreme psychological and physical suffering. Wild animals’ habitats are also destroyed to grow the crops to feed billions of farmed animals. Factory farming is a global issue and only with a global solution can animals be safeguarded, and animal welfare improved.
Our vision is a world where respect for animals and nature sits at the heart of our food system, which is equitable, sustainable, resilient, and capable of feeding the world. We will move millions of people by raising awareness of the catastrophic impacts of factory farming on animals, the environment, and human health. Many consumers, governments and corporations are already joining this movement, influenced by our campaigns to end cruelty inherent in factory farming.
Whether taken from the wild or bred in captivity, elephants exploited for entertainment can suffer through constant restraint on chains, lack of social interaction with other elephants, inadequate diet, and demanding or even damaging activities that lead to stress and health problems. An example of elephant exploitation for the tourism industry is elephant rides in parts of Asia.
We focus on educating tourists, reducing demand for cruel entertainment, moving the travel industry to protect elephants, and promoting sustainable solutions. Elephants belong in the wild. But sadly, after years of captivity, it is very often not possible to release captive elephants into the wild. In these cases, alternative solutions need to be found where elephants’ physical and psychological needs are met.
We have helped two elephant entertainment venues in Thailand, Following Giants and ChangChill, to transition into elephant-friendly venues. Visitors can respectfully observe elephants from a distance and learn about them, but there is no direct interaction. Elephants can just be elephants.
Read about how to be an elephant-friendly tourist here
Thousands of tigers across the world are captured and bred for profit. They are exploited as exotic pets, in entertainment, and for traditional medicine. Instead of living free in their natural habitats, many captive tigers live lonely and miserable existences. This is even more heart-breaking to think of as wild tiger populations decline.
World Animal Protection is dedicated to making this the last generation of tigers to suffer in captivity, and to promoting the protection of wild tigers. Tigers, like all wild animals, belong in the wild. We educate the public, work with travel corporations to end the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment, and lobby to end the global wildlife trade.
Sadly, there are currently around 3,000 whales and dolphins held captive in zoos, aquaria, or marine parks around the world. They are often separated from their mothers too young, confined to tanks much smaller than their natural habitat, and can be deprived of food for training purposes, which causes them constant stress and suffering. They are miserable and endure a harsh reality in the name of entertainment, which can even lead to them expressing self-harming behaviours.
Thankfully, there are Whale Heritage Sites that encourage collaboration between communities and conservation projects to protect whales and dolphins. Whale Heritage Sites are a global accreditation scheme, developed by the World Cetacean Alliance and supported by World Animal Protection, that recognise a communities´ commitment to celebrate whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans.
These sites give tourists a transparent and easy way to select responsible whale and dolphin watching holiday destinations, encouraging them to experience these incredible animals in their natural habitat, in an authentic and respectful way.
Animal Awareness Days
World Wildlife Day on March 3rd celebrates the natural world and its inhabitants. Join us in educating the world on why wildlife deserves a wild life.
Animal Awareness Days
World Tourism Day on 27th September promotes ethical and sustainable tourism ensuring the well-being of tourists, communities, animals, and planet.
Animal Awareness Days
World Bear Day is observed around the globe on March 23rd and celebrates all bears. Join us in celebrating these much-loved mammals and find out more here!
Blog
Explore our reports on factory farming and discover why governments need to act to protect our climate, wildlife...
Blog
In this Q&A, we discuss the suffering of sentient wild animals when they are kept in captivity for...
Blog
In this Q&A, explore what our understanding of — and cultural disconnect from — animal sentience means for...
Blog
In this Q&A, we examine the evidence for sentience in animals and explore what it means for our...