World Animal Day 2017: Facts And Quotes For Promoting Their Welfare

Wednesday, October 4, marks World Animal Day, an international day of action for animal rights and welfare. According to the official website of World Animal Day, the mission of the 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, mobilizing 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 recognized as sentient beings and full regard is always paid to their welfare."

Here are some facts about the origin and history of the annual event, which is sponsored by Nature Watch Foundation, an animal welfare organization based in the United Kingdom.

• The idea of celebrating World Animal Day was first propagated by German author and animal protection activist Heinrich Zimmermann, who was also the publisher of the magazine, “Mensch und Hund” (Man and Dog).
• Zimmerman wanted the day to be observed on Oct. 4 to align it with the feast of St Francis of Assisi, who is considered to be the Patron Saint of Ecology, including animals.
• His proposal to make World Animal Day universal was unanimously accepted in May 1931 as a resolution at a congress of the world’s animal protection organizations in Florence, Italy.
• The first World Animal Day took place on March 24, 1925, after the venue, the Sport Palace in Berlin, Germany, which was the only venue that could hold a large number of visitors, was not available on Oct. 4. Over 5,000 people attended the event.

Renowned people from all walks of life have shared some memorable quotes on the importance of animal welfare. Here is a compilation of the best of them, courtesy Betterworld.net.

• “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
• "If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals”— German physicist Albert Einstein.
• “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, known as India's "Father of Nation."
• "If only we can overcome cruelty, to human and animal, with love and compassion we shall stand at the threshold of a new era in human moral and spiritual evolution - and realize, at last, our most unique quality: humanity."— British anthropologist Jane Goodall.
• "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being." — Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
• "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." — Russian author Leo Tolstoy.