World Animal Day was started in 1931 at a convention of ecologists in Florence as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered species. Since then it has grown to encompass all kinds of animal life and is widely celebrated in countries throughout the world. October 4 was chosen as World Animal Day as it is the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

It is intended as a day of celebration for anyone in the world who cares about animals. It is not restricted to any one nationality, creed, religion, political belief or ideology.

Launched in the UK on 4 October 2003, 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 and with your help we can ensure the trend continues.

And that is the aim of this website, 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.

We are sure you will agree that, building the World Animal Day initiative is a wonderful way to unite the animal welfare movement and something that everyone can join in with whether they are part of an organisation, group, or as an individual.

On this website we are sure you will find everything you need to make World Animal Day a reality in your area but do please let us know if you think something is missing. There’s no better time than now to start making plans – please get involved and show the animals you care.