World Animal Day 2015

Hey there everyone, put your hands in the air! October fourth is World Animal Day!

Ok, if you don’t have hands, you can put your trunk in the air.

What’s happening to the animals on this planet is important, so I hope your all ears.

World animal day recognizes all animals on the planet, pets, homeless animals and wildlife drawing attention to endangered species, protecting natural habitat and animal welfare.

There are so many different animals out there, (this photo above has a lot and that is just ONE herd of cape buffalo!) I choose to talk about World Animal Day through Africa’s Big Five.

I mean, the big five is so cute, right?

But let’s not kid ourselves, wildlife is wild and should always be given their space and respect.

Most of these animals need all the help they can get. As I write this, rhinos are being poached at a rate that could lead to extinction in my life time.

To even have a chance at living, these rhinos (which the ones above are guarded 24 hours a day) have had their horns continuously cut to deter poachers. Even with that, the small amount of horn you can see left in the photo above, a poacher would kill this rhino in an instant to get as much horn as possible.

It’s like dope slap! We only get once shot to preserve this earth. To protect these animals, which in turn benefit us humans as well seems like it should be something we all talk about A LOT. When habitat is preserved, our drinking water sources will remain, the trees will continue ridding the air of excess carbon dioxide and bees will pollinate the crops that feed us. We’re talking win-wins here people. Big wins.

Look at these eyes and this beautiful lion. All the amazing animals that we share this earth with. It is all of our homes. Should we not try and be a little more considerate?

The mission of World Animal 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, mobilising 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 recognised as sentient beings and full regard is always paid to their welfare.

It seems to me we can do better. As Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” We owe it them. We owe it to ourselves. Let’s use our time to better what is around us and value life, even if it’s different than ours. Our time is too precious and we must use it well. Let’s use it wisely together.

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You can check out the site for World Animal Day.