World Animal Day (04/10)

World Animal Day, or World Animal Day, celebrated annually around the world on October 4, was established at the International Congress of Proponents of the Nature Defense Movement, held in 1931 in Florence (Italy), and is intended to draw the attention of humanity to the problems of the rest inhabitants of the planet.

The date October 4 was chosen because the day is known as the day of remembrance of the Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi (1181/1182 — 1226), who is considered the patron saint of animals. Churches in a number of countries hold services to mark World Animal Day, either on 4 October or on a day close to that date.

Animal welfare societies organize a variety of mass events and activities every year to celebrate the Day. In Russia, this date has been celebrated since 2000 on the initiative of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)*, three species of animals disappear on Earth every hour, 70 species of flora and fauna of the planet disappear every day, and a quarter of all species of flora and fauna will cease to exist in the near future. Between 1970 and 2016, populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish fell by an average of 68%.

In Russia, the most important mechanism for the protection of rare and endangered animal species is the Red Book of the Russian Federation. The list of wildlife objects included in it includes more than 400 species of animals. Conservation strategies for selected rare and endangered species of animals — Amur tiger, Far Eastern leopard, snow leopard, polar bear, bison, Sakhalin musk deer are also being developed and implemented. To protect and conserve rare and endangered animal species and their habitats, environmental legislation is being reformed. Federal laws are being created and improved that radically change human attitudes towards the environment.

Therefore, today’s date has been set in order to increase public awareness of the need to protect the environment and increase activity in animal protection.

Russia firmly holds second place in the world after the United States in terms of the number of pets (Photo: Ermolaev Alexander, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Moreover, this concerns the protection not only of wild animals, but also of domestic animals, since there have been more and more examples of cruelty to them in recent years. In many Western European countries, pets — are considered to be part of the family and have the same rights as other members.

Russia firmly holds second place in the world in terms of the number of pets after the United States. Every third Russian family has « smaller brothers».

In recent years, events dedicated to World Animal Day have been held in more than 60 countries around the world.

* – In March 2023, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, formerly called the World Wildlife Fund) to the list of foreign agents



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