International Animal Rights Day: Quotes That Promote Their Welfare

Created in 1998, International Animal Rights Day is celebrated on Dec. 10 annually to highlight the importance of treating animals with kindness and respect and improving their welfare standards as well as protecting them from suffering and exploitation.

During the observance, animal rights advocates from around the world come together to remember the animals that are subjected to cruelty and killing every year. They also launch campaigns and activities that urge people to uphold animals' rights.

This day, let us take a look at some quotes that promote animal welfare and at the same time highlight the role people should play in making sure that the animals are protected from harm. (Courtesy: Quote Garden and Goodreads)

• "Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission — to be of service to them whenever they require it... If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." — Saint Francis of Assisi
• "It may be suggested by some books that it is not a sin to kill an animal, but it is written in our own hearts — more clearly than in any book — that we should take pity on animals in the same way as we do on humans." — Leo Tolstoy
• "The fact that rescue animals exist is a blaring siren signal that all pet adoptions should be of rescue animals. Until that moniker no longer exists, there is no reason whatsoever to get any other kind of animal." —Shenita Etwaroo
• "To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. The more helpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to protection by man from the cruelty of man." — Mahatma Gandhi
• "No humane being... will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does. — Henry David Thoreau
• "A simple act of kindness and compassion towards a single animal may not mean anything to all creatures, but will mean everything to one." — Paul Oxton
• "The work to protect one species benefits us all." — Jennifer Skiff