Location: GREECE - Island of Agistri
Event: Children's Painting Competition and Exhibition
Hosted by: Animal Protection Society of Aegina and Agistri Islands

Location: BULGARIA - Sofia
Event: Animal Movie Marathon / Photo Competition / Fundraising
Hosted by: Intimate with Nature Society (IWNS)

The 4th October was a sunny Saturday. In the morning, volunteers of IWNS dressed up as a Cat (Murko) and a Dog (Jaff) and played with children in the Sofia South park. They spoke with dog owners about the way to register their pets and how to keep them in good health. We also did some fundraising to help pay for the veterinary needs of stray and abandoned animals and gave everyone who donated a balloon, booklet or sticker.

Jaff and Murko gave away special invitations inviting families to attend a special World Animal Day screening of animal movies. Our annual 'Animal Movie Marathon' is a special event that IWNS has been organizing to mark World Animal Day for several years. The event commenced at 13.30 and this year screened 'Ratatouille', 'The Cats and the Dogs' and 'Free Willy', Part 2.

At the end of the Marathon, we held the prizegiving for our annual photo competition where 15 winners were awarded. Regards, Kristina Slavova, IWNS and Bulgaria's World Animal Day Ambassador.

Location: SPAIN - Barcelona
Event: AnimalAdda Adoption Fair
Hosted by: ADDA Barcelona

Since 2005, every year we organise a special Fair to raise awareness of abandoned pets’ problems.
The Fair is called Animaladda and it is a pioneering initiative for promoting adoption of abandoned pets.

This year, the 4th ANIMALADDA Fair was a great success. It was held in Palau Sant Jordi, Barecelona on October 10th, 11th and 12th. It surpassed our expectations as more than 12,000 people visited it.> The public appearance of cats and dogs on the “Catwalk” was well-attended and was opened by the Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza, who has been an honorary member of ADDA for many years and she has adopted 2 of our dogs. Other well-known figures from politics, show business and media also presented pets on the Catwalk.

Over 200 pets were adopted this year and, surprisingly, nearly the same number of cats and dogs. We expect that another 200 pets will be adopted in the coming weeks as a direct result of publicity following this event. This year there was a fun workshop for children aged between 4 and 10 that was attended by over 300 children. They were taught that all animals deserve to be respected and loved.

The pioneering Animaladda Fair is the last opportunity for thousands of abandoned pets to find a new home. All the exhibitors that took part gave the same messages: pets deserve to be treated as a member of the family; it is essential to avoid compulsive sale; pet owners have to enforce regulations; pets have to be registered, have a microchip implanted and wear a dog tag so they can be easily reunited with their owner if lost and to demonstrate that their owners are responsible and committed to their health and welfare.

Pets’ issues were extensively discussed in round-table conferences and talks were given during the 3 days of the Fair, together with other activities. ADDA Barcelona. Click here to view poster of this event [pdf]

Location: GREECE - Astir Beach, Athens
Event: Childrens Painting Competition & Turtle Rescue Centre Open Day
Hosted by: Archelon - The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece

On Sunday 5th of October ARCHEON, in cooperation with Astir Beach of ASTIR PALAS Hotel, held a children's event in celebration of World Animal Day. Next to the beach, children had the chance to participate in a painting competition with the subject being: “The magic world of the sea and ourselves”. The children also pretended to be newly hatched sea turtles and to become little hatchlings crawling across the sand trying to find their way to the sea. The winners of the painting competition were Artemis Ginakou and Konstantinos Avramakos.

The event took place within the context of the ASTIR PALAS Corporate Social Responsibility programme “ANASA”.

Furthermore, on Saturday 4th of October, CHELONOPAREA (the young club of ARCHELON) organised an event at the Rescue Centre. The members of CHELONOPAREA had the chance to view photographs taken at the CHELONOPAREA Youth Camp held during the summer and to get to know the sea turtles at the Rescue Centre. Theoni Karkoulia, Communication Officer, The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, Athen.

Location: PORTUGAL - Olhão, Algarve.
Event: Awareness Day
Hosted by: ADAPO - Associação de Defesa dos Animais e Plantas de Olhão

On this special day we organised a street theatre on the principal avenue of the city of Olhão in the Algarve to draw public attention to animal welfare issues in Portugal. We distributed leaflets to the passing public about the work of our association and displayed large posters and photographs about our work, the poisoning of animals, cruelty to animals and the consequences of abandoning animals.
We also talked about our project to sterilize stray cats and dogs. Celia Caravela, ADAPO.

Location: ROMANIA - Bucharest
Event: 'Lords of the Streets' event
Hosted by: Romania Animal Rescue

In honor of World Animal Day, Romania Animal Rescue held the "Lords of the Streets" event on 2nd October at the Athenee Palace Hotel in Bucharest. Livia Brenner, of Romania Animal Rescue, hosted and planned the entire event, with the help of Cristina Peterson of St. Francis of Assisi (Romanian charity). I will forward this to RARF in Bucharest and ask them to send you photos of the pups at the event! Sincerely, Nancy Janes, Romania Animal Rescue, Inc.

Location: GREECE - Island of Crete
Event: Promoting Responsible Pet Ownership
Hosted by: Friends of Animals - Rethymno (FAR) & Cretan Cat-A-List

On Friday 3rd October, together with our friendly dog, FAR gave a short presentation to the children of the 2nd Primary School explaining the basic needs of any animal (image).

On Saturday 4th October, World Animal Day itself, FAR, together with Cretan Cat-A-List, had information tables outside Rethymno Town Hall. The day was made by the Scouts who handed out leaflets to the passing public concerning “Responsible Pet Ownership”, “Taking Care of your Dog”, “Neutering” and infomation about our “Subsidized Neutering Programme”. Our thanks to the Scouts for their help.

Location: GREECE - Patras
Event: Shelter Open Day & Educational
Hosted by: The Animal Shelter of the University of Patras

We would like to kindly thank you for giving us the opportunity to present our WAD Celebration and what we achieved for our little friends the animals. The event took place at the Animal Shelter of the University of Patras on Saturday 4th October 2008 from 10:00 to 14:00.

We held a Shelter Open Day & Educational which attracted a greater number of visitors than in previous years and was a great success. Visitors were taken on a tour of the shelter and then offered refreshments while we handed out leaflets concerning neutering, the consequences of abandoning animals and veterinary care. We also gave out flyers about the WAD event and issues of our quarterly magazine which contain information about animal welfare and the activities of the Society. We sold a few T-shirts with dog pictures printed on them and also raised some funds via our donation box. Also, we were delighted that two of our shelter dogs were adopted by caring families.

We also distributed GAWF leaflets with the WAD logo about the consequences of abandoning animals to schools in the area. This resulted in two schools visiting our shelter and another six making arrangements to visit. We contacted the local media prior to the event and were delighted that two TV stations and one newspaper attended to cover our WAD activity. Stacey Katsarou, Secretary.

Location: GREECE - Veria
Event: Peaceful Rally for the Street Dogs of Turkey
Hosted by: The Association of Animal Friends of Imathia

On the 4th of October at 11:00 am I went to the Municipality Square of Veria to meet the Animal Friends of Imathia who gave me a stand to raise awareness of the street dog situation in Turkey. The weather was perfect and I was well prepared for the day with many documents translated into Greek, some pictures and banners, and a nice Turkish flag!

A man started shouting for the Turkish flag to be put away and even when I tried to explain to him what it was about he continued shouting because it worked positively for me. The people started to come to my stand to see what happening and I collected around 60 petition signatures!

Veria is a small town in Greece with a population of around 50,000 people and, like everywhere in Greece, it has serious dog poisoning problems and the people are not compassionate towards stray animals. However, most of the people who came to our stand were very interested in learning about our campaign to persuade the Turkish authorities to end its barbic treatment of the country's strays. They were very shocked to view the images and read about the situation. I distributed information in Greek - “We are sorry Rumi”, “The real face of the Devil”, “Istanbul, 2010 Cultural Capital of the World” etc.

About 150 people visited the event between 12:00 and 15:00 but, disappointingly, the press did not attend. The good news is that a group of students, accompanied by two teachers, told me they will help draw attention to the Turkish situation on their blog. For my part, I will continue to bombard the Greek media with my articles. Submitted by Lale Alatli. Email: lalealatli@gmail.com

Location: SLOVAKIA - Zvolen
Event: Awareness Campaign and Dog Walk
Hosted by: Pes v Nudzi (Dogs in Emergency)

On World Animal Day we organised an event in the Europa Shopping center in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. We held an information stall, introduced the work of our organisation to the public and collected donations. Saturday is a very busy day at the center so a lot of people learned about World Animal Day. We also organised a mini rehoming centre where people could meet some of our dogs that were seeking new loving homes. Many people stopped to find out more and talked with us. It was a very enjoyable and successful day and now even more people know about us.

The next day we organised a dog walk from our shelter in Lukavica. Some people brought their own dogs with them and others took dogs from our shelter. We went on a lovely walk together and everyone had a great time. The dogs were happy and very excited, they ran and ran and ran, playing with each other all the time. We were gone for 3 - 4 hours and by the end of it the dogs were very tired! Regards Kristina Mojzisova. Email: pesvnudzi@gmail.com

Location: ROMANIA - Deva
Event: Snake Presentation for Children
Hosted by: Administraţia Parcului Natural Grădiştea Muncelului-Cioclovina

Location: ROMANIA - Bucharest
Event: Children's Awareness Campaign
Hosted by: The Nature - a Heritage for the Future Association

We are "The Nature-a Heritage for the Future" Association, Bucharest, Romania. Our shelter is located in Popesti-Leordeni, a suburb of Bucharest. We run education programs in this area.

We were very busy last week celebrating World Animal Day. On Tuesday and Friday we celebrated at schools with drawing competitions, singing, poems and slides. On Tuesday, the children brought their pets to school so they arrived with their dogs, cats, birds and guinea pigs. The children that didn't have pets brought in animal toys instead.

This was followed by a delegation of 25 children descending upon the Town Hall to enter a contest to become 'Mayor for a Day'. The children had to decide what they would do to improve the lives of the animals in the community if they were Mayor. We also displayed the drawings on the walls in the lobby of the Town Hall.

We visited a kindergarten and after-school care centre where we talked about World Animal Day and face-painted the children as animals.

Finally, on World Animal Day itself we invited all the children we'd met, their teachers and carers, plus several officials from the townhall, to visit our shelter to help feed, clean, wash, walk and play with the animals. Carmen Milobendzchi, World Animal Day Ambassador, Romania.

Location: MALTA
Event: Open Day & Pet Blessing Mass
Hosted by: Island Sanctuary

Why 'Thank God for His Creation '?

Malta is s predominantly Catholic country, but quite a few people fail to see the relevance of their belief to the way they treat animals. Our association has often asked the Church authorities here to speak out in favour of animals, since the Church's influence is significant enough - especially with older people - who are the main problem! Most under 50s show compassion towards animals, and the younger the age, the more aware they are, especially since Animal Awareness was introduced in our curriculum some years ago.

We have been holding an Open Day in October for quite a few years now, but 4 years ago we decided to link it with the feast of St Francis and World Animal Day - our chosen theme since then has been 'Thank God for His Creation'.

Many villages have a traditional blessing of pets, but we wanted Mass on our premises - so the animals could be present for Mass too. Animal lovers were pleasantly surprised when we had our first mass on the premises - some who disliked animals were shocked! So - to have His Excellency the Archbishop actually celebrate mass for us was something of a 'scoop'! He is well known as an animal lover and is very popular with all classes and ages here. His visit to the sanctuary - and his obvious pleasure at being there - has done more for Animal Welfare than a formal teaching would have done.

Sunday 28th September 2008 turned out to be a beautiful autumn day, and all was set for our Open Day to celebrate the feast of St. Francis.

As usual, there were many visitors including The Honourable Minister George Pullicino and Animal Welfare Officer Dr. Mario Spiteri, who were shown round the sanctuary and were both impressed at the way the dogs are cared for and could see that the residents were happy. They were also informed as to how the sanctuary was run.

The bazaar was also open and many enjoyed going round, buying various articles, especially books, of course knowing that they were acquiring good bargains and at the same time helping the sanctuary. 

At about 4.30pm people, along with their pets, began gathering for the most important part of the day.  The celebration of Mass to 'Thank God for His Creation'.  This time it was even more special!  His Excellency The Archbishop Mons. Paul Cremona O.P. was going to celebrate Mass.  On his arrival He was greeted by the volunteers and their dogs, who escorted Him into the sanctuary. One could see the enthusiasm of all those present, clapping as His Excellency's car went by.

A Franciscan, Fr. Mario, when finding out that His Excellency was going to celebrate Mass decided to join him.  The Archbishop delivered a really appropriate sermon, in which he praised God's creation and condemned the abuses by mankind. He also said that at home they always had a dog and these were always strays.  At present, they have one called Casper. His Excellency then invited Fr. Mario to relate a story about St. Francis, so he decided to tell the story of the wolf of Gubbio, that is always pictured beside St. Francis.

After Holy Communion, Mr Gorg Peresso read The Thanksgiving Prayer. The Revive choir from St. Venera animated the Mass. At the end of the Mass, His Excellency was presented with a painting made by one of the volunteers, Francelle, and The Island Sanctuary 2009 calendar. He was really thrilled!

He then Blessed the Mementos and started going round to bless all the pets present.  You can imagine the excitement of all those present! Afterwards He went round to bless the residents of the sanctuary, who greeted Him with their welcoming bark.  You could see that he felt so at home and enjoying every minute of it!  Every now and then He would stop to talk to some of the dogs and was eager to know their stories.  His secretary kept telling Him that it was getting dark and it was time to go but He kept going on with great interest!

Thank you Your Excellency, Your presence was a great honour and privilege for us at the sanctuary. A day which will remain impressed in our hearts and one we will never forget! Well done everybody who in one way or another helped to make this a memorable day. Thank you, Gloria  Bugeja.

Location: LATVIA - Riga
Event: Crossbreed Dog Show
Hosted by: LKF - Dzīvnieku Aizsardzības Grupa

In the capital city of Latvia, Riga, the society 'Animal Protection Group of Latvian Cynological Federation' ('LKF dzīvnieku aizsardzības grupa') has been running its own dog shelter for 9 years in collaboration with the municipality run animal shelter opened 5 years ago. Our dream is to build a new animal support center that meets animal welfare needs and where we would not only take care of homeless animals, but where our association could carry out much more -  educate society, investigate cases of animal cruelty etc.

Therefore, in celebration of World Animal Day we decided to hold a fundraising event on the land where our dream centre could be built! We decided to hold a Crossbreed Dog Show and publicised our event throughout the media. Our Dog Show was a great success and attracted 72 participants with about 400 people attending in total. It was covered by local mass media - internet news portals, newspapers and television. Forty-two (42) of the dogs participating had been adopted from animal shelters.

During the show there were competitions in 13 categories as well as other activities. Tails and paws were measured and the beauty and health of their coats was assessed. The most popular class was 'The dog that most closely resembles its owner'.

We are sure that when seeing the beautiful, wonderful, obedient and loved dogs that participated in our Crossbreed Dog Show, people will be motivated to adopt a companion animal from animal shelters in Latvia, and participate in our Crossbreed Show to celebrate World Animal Day 2009! Linda Zirdzina, LKF Animal Protection Group.

Location: FRANCE
Event: Worldwide Peaceful Rally for the Street Dogs of Turkey - Compte-rendu du rassemblement contre le massacre des chien errants de Turquie

Location: GREECE - Island of Corfu
Event: Raising Awareness/Sterilisation/Identification
Hosted by: The Ark

Here in Corfu many friends of the animals celebrated World Animal Day. The mayor of Corfu town kindly allowed us the use of an empty shop for a few days in the main shopping street.

We had information boards about the aims and goals of The Ark, including photographs to show visitors about our work.  We had two major themes for World Animal Day this year: the benefits of sterilising dogs and cats, and dog identification. Although Greek law states pet dogs must be microchipped as well as wear an identification tag on their collar, most owners don't bother and too many dogs wander round without even a collar! We also held a small bazaar and sold goods generously donated to us.

The days were quite successful with lots of people spending time looking at our displays and learning about our work. At the same time we raised some much-needed funds via sales and donations to help the stray dogs on the island.  Regards, Louisa, Boardmember of The Ark. 

Location: SERBIA
Event: Children's Awareness Day
Hosted by: Fund sPas

Although our World Animal Day event was modest, it was most successful and effective. Children from the first class (age 7) drew animals on the blackboard and discussed their habits, needs and our attitude towards them. The teacher stressed the need of protecting and rescuing animals.

An older class (age 9 -10), attended a lesson in front of computers, where the teacher opened the World Animal Day website and explained what it was about. While learning English, the Serbian-speaking children also got to know about World Animal Day its aims and the work of animal advocates around the world. They discussed that topic in connection with local habits as well. Boyana, Founder of Fund sPas.

Location: CYPRUS
Event: ARGOS Open Day and official opening of new Cat Sanctuary
Hosted by: Argos Animal Rescue & Protection Association

What better time to inaugurate our new cat sanctuary than in celebration of World Animal Day. The 2nd October 08 saw the cat sanctuary open its doors to a cross section of media, local dignitaries and key personnel, celebrities and, of course, the general public.

The main aim of the event was to create awareness of ARGOS, its mission and future plans. It was also to commemorate the suffering of the World’s farm animals and to celebrate all animals for enriching our lives.

The morning started early with the hustle and bustle of volunteers setting up tables, umbrella’s, and sprucing up the area ready for the arrival of our many visitors. After the arrival of 50 children from Dhekelia Primary School and 46 children from Sotira Primary School, there was a blessing of the animals and sanctuary by Ormidhia priest, Father Serghios.  Afterwards the band from King Richard School, Dhekelia, played some excellent music to the gathering.  In attendance were representatives from the Dhekelia British Military Base, Sovereign Base Area police Divisional Commander Guy and his team, SBA administration team and local village Council Community Presidents.  The official cutting of the ribbon was carried out by famous Greek stage actress Jenny Gaitanopoulou who gave a wonderful speech in both Greek and English on the positive energy we receive from our animal friends.

Television cameras were present from SIGMA, MEGA and RIK.  The report was shown on prime time news on SIGMA and MEGA. President of ARGOS, Stella Stylianou, also gave an interview to BFBS radio and the newspaper to the British Bases, The Cyprus Lion.
                                                                                                                                             
The children were a credit to their school and they showed great compassion for the welfare of animals. Both schools gave interesting and thoughtful speeches in their own languages. The children also brought along donations of food, bedding and toys for the cats and kittens. ARGOS would like to thank all the children and teachers for attending and the band for their excellent music. Argos gave leaflets on animal awareness to the teachers for a class exercise. A grand total of €554 was collected during the morning in addition to the donations of food for the cat sanctuary. We are very grateful to KEO, who sponsored the event and kindly provided the soft drinks. Thanks also to Chris’s patisserie in Xylotymbou, Pamlena bakeries in Ormidhia and Prozymy bakery in Xylofagou who all donated pastries and savouries.  Not forgetting our wonderful volunteers who produced home made cakes and gave their time to help ensure the event ran smoothly. Stella Stylianou, Argos Animal Welfare.

Location: AUSTRIA - Linz
Event: Animal Blessing Mass
Hosted by: St Peter's Roman Catholic Church

550 e-mails from all over the world with photos of animals requesting a blessing were received by the parish of Linz - St. Peter on the occasion of the Animal Blessing. At the animal blessing itself, there were approximately 80 pets with their owners present asking for God's blessing. Altogether there was a total of approximately 270 people on the church square.

In his sermon the pastor stressed the responsibility of man for all of creation. The way animals are treated in a society is lastly also an indication of the value of human life in all of its phases.

After Holy Mass children sent balloons into the world with a call for a responsible and loving treatment of all of creation. Many greetings. Franz Zeiger, Pfarrer. See: http://www.dioezese-linz.at/pfarren/linz-stpeter/index.php?id=610003

Location: SERBIA - Pancevo
Event: Drawing/Photo Competition & Information Stand
Hosted by: Society for the Protection of Animals Ljubimci

We were delighted that World Animal Day was fully covered by media (TV , Radio, Newspapers) in the City of Pancevo, and in various Serbian media and TV houses.

Organizations and individuals from 10 other cities and towns around Serbia (Jagodina, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Beograd, Jabuka, Zrenjanin, Nis...) organized different events: from media and press releases, exhibitions, drawing contests, organization of promotional stalls, lectures in schools...

We organised a number of events in celebration of World Animal Day as follows:

Our drawing and photo competition was launched in all schools in the City of Pancevo with the following topic: Moji Ljubimci (My Pets). The judging committee will be composed of recognized artists and they will select the best drawings or photographs after the competition closes on 1st December. The winning drawings and photographs will be used to produce promotional materials and Christmas and New Year’s greetings for our humane society and for the City Council;

We also held an information stand in the city center where our volunteers distributed leaflets about World Animal Day, our current campaigns, and general information about animal welfare issues;

We also managed to find new loving homes for a number of puppies and our staff talked with the public about a range of animal welfare issues. At the same time, we collected signatures for the "Animals matter to me" global petition;  

We also launched a new website with lots of educational materials and online help to further our aim of promoting animal welfare and protection in our country;

Finally, we launched a new spay/neuter campaign – sponsored by the City Council and supported by the Bulgarian Animal Protection Foundation from Sofia. About 400 stray animals will be sterilised by the end of October within this project and it will receive regular media coverage. Ivan Kurajov, WAD Ambassador to Serbia.

Location: SERBIA - Novi Sad
Event: Animal Welfare Seminar: My Animal, my responsibility
Hosted by: SFS Center/Novi Sad University Students Union/National Center for prevention of injuries and promotion of security of Novi Sad/Safe School

Animals are part of our world and World Animal Day was a great way for us to celebrate it with children, students, teachers, veterinarians and for us all to work together. It is the perfect time to explain the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare at the United Nations, similar to previous UN Declarations and to remind participants that animals do matter. SFS center and partners with agreement from the Veterinary Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Forestry of Republic of Serbia celebrated the 4th October in the Primary School Zarko Zrenjanin in Novi Sad. This school is near to Limanski Park where the gathering was planned to be held but due to heavy rain our event was held at the school. There were several workshops: Workshop 1 - The Importance of World Animal Day and Animal Welfare during which a TV interview was conducted for RTV Novi Sad with PhD Veselina Pelagić (SFScenter), Ms Natasom Sajlović (UNS) and Ms Jelicom Mijanovic (Safe school); Workshop 2 - My animal, my responsibility; Workshop 3 - Help me when I am healthy to prevent illness and rabies - consultations with the veterinarians; Workshop 4 - My animal, my subject through art. Our celebration supported ZooPalic. Click on Links to view additional images Day Nursery, Sremska Kamenica and School Workshop [pdf files].

Location: GREECE - Heraklion, Island of Crete
Event: Information Stall
Hosted by: The Cretan Animal Welfare Group

The Cretan Animal Welfare Group organised a World Animal Day event in the centre of the island's capital, Heraklion, on the 4th Oct, from 10.00 - 16.00hrs.

We raised 300EUR, sold 10 of our 2009 calendars, recruited 2 new members, collected 83 signatures for the UDAW and got on Creta Channel (one of the main tv channels) to advertise our Subsidised Neutering Project for Owned Dogs!!! We also received a celebrity signature from a well known Greek TV actress, Anna Tsoukala. Kerenza

Location: FRANCE - Marseille
Event: Children's Awareness Day
Hosted by: Aidons les Animaux

Pour cette première journée en France de la "World Animal Day", nous étions deux militantes motivées.
Nous avons profité des deux journées portes ouvertes dans toutes les  S P A de France pour informer et surtout sensibiliser les gens à ne pas acheter de chiots en animalerie. Certains gamins tiraient leurs parents par la main pour leur montrer ces petites boules de poils. En ce sens, nous avons distribué les tracts suivants  pour bien leur expliquer que l'animal n'est pas un jouet mais bien un être vivant et bien sûr préférer adopter en refuge un animal abandonné! et celui d'animômes : 
http://animomes.fr/images/j_adopte_en_
refuge.pdf
Espérons que notre message sera entendu!

Location: FRANCE - Le Havre
Event: Une apres mide de chien sous une meteo capricieuse
Hosted by: SHPA Le Havre

Malgré une météo maussade digne des côtes du nord, les Havrais et Havraises se sont déplacés en grand nombre ‘Au Paradis des Jardins’ de Montivilliers pour répondre à l’invitation de nos amis à quatre pattes qui avaient lancé grâce à leurs parrains respectif depuis plus de 15 jours cette info sur tous les sites et forums animaliers « faite une action en faveur des animaux » Dès le matin les bénévoles du refuge de la SHPA étaient venus chercher le cœur léger leur petit protégé pour les toiletter et assurer la promenade du matin et oui ! Une journée importante s’annonçait pour eux plus de huit heures de présence non- stop et à la clef, trouver enfin un nouveau maître et surtout LA LIBERTE. Sur place l’organisation s’annonce parfaite, le hall du magasin sous une verrière de 100 m2 nous est attribuée, avec tables, chaises, et caddies pour la récolte habituelle de croquettes, condition rêvé pour attendre « de pattes ferme » nos visiteurs, mais également pour informer du grand projet de construction du futur refuge dont le coup selon la dernière estimation minorées s’élève tout de même à 850 000 € « un appel aux dons à été lancé » Tous à leur manière nos amis à quatre pattes ont joués à la perfection de leur charme auprès des visiteurs, les uns utilisant l’arme fatale du bisou, les autres présentations de la papatte pour saluer et pour les plus petits en sautant directement dans les bras. Cette journée très réussie s’est soldée par sept adoptions sur 13 animaux présents ce qui est un succès mais sans oublier les laissés pour compte qui n’ont pas eu cette chance et que l’on a du reconduire la mort dans l’âme jusqu'à leur box en fin de journée. Ne les oubliez pas et consulter notre site régulièrement « la Galerie des animaux » pour faire des heureux et leur redonner confiance et dignité. N’oubliez pas, un animal n’est pas comme la loi le précise un bien, ou un meuble, mais un être sensible et intelligent qui durant cette Journée Mondiale des Animaux nous l’ont encore prouvé. Merci pour eux et à l’année prochaine avec davantage d’opérations comme celle-ci dans toute la France qui n’est pas au TOP MONDIAL pour le moment et que je qualifierais de « PEUT MIEUX FAIRE » sans oublier que l’unité fait la force et non pas l’égo comme étendard. MQ. www.arche27.fr
http://www.myspace.com/shpa76

Location: LITHUANIA - Baisogala
Event: Animal Welfare Conference
Hosted by: Lithuanian Society for the Protection of Animals (LiSPA)

LiSPA commemorated World Animal Day at the Institute of Animal Sciences in Baisogala, Lithuania. A conference was organised for the Institute's instructors, school principals and students. On the Institute's webpage http://www.lgi.lt/index.html the Director states that this was the largest gathering of students, teachers, representatives from the Lithuanian Chamber of Agriculture and public officials in the Institute's history.

The conference informed all the participants about the history of WAD, Compassion Day in Lithuania, LiSPA's history and the desire to initiate a new LiSPA Branch in the Baisogala region. Three past and present LiSPA Chairmen gave presentations at the Conference - Prof. V. Trainys, Dr's. A. Aniuliene and B. Noreikis. Special attention was given to native livestock species - cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, chickens - that have become rare in our country as new more-productive breeds have been imported. There is an avid interest not only in safeguarding these breeds and their genepools from extinction, but attempts to make them popular again seem promising. These animals, which have been kept for countless generations, are much better suited to our local climate and pastures than other imported breeds. Their traits make them much hardier in many respects. Meat, wool, milk and egg production rates of these breeds are lower than what producers seek, however with the ever-increasing consumer interest in ecologically clean products, the interest in these native breeds is escalating.

At the close of the Conference, 135 ballons were symbolically released commemorating LiSPA's 135th birthday. Ben Noreikis.

Location: CANARY ISLANDS - Tenerife
Event: Animal Awareness, Fete and Fundraising Day
Hosted by: Santiago del Teide Branch of Asociación San Francisco de los Animales

TAKINGS rose along with the temperature as the crowds came out to celebrate World Animal Day on Saturday, October 4. Hundreds poured into the Los Gigantes Plaza for an Animal Awareness Day combined with a fête and nearly new sale run by the Santiago del Teide branch of Asociación San Francisco de los Animales. We also ran a childrens colouring competition with, nauturally, an animal theme.

After rummaging through the lavish stocks of nearly new clothes, jewellery and household items, we offered the perfect way to cool down – as targets in the wet sponge stocks! A soaking sponge in the face guaranteed satisfaction – and a load of laughs for other visitors to the fête. But the really satisfying news was the day’s totting up of takings on the animal charity’s first ever nearly new sale.

Generous fete-goers happily paid more than €3,000 for the quality goods kindly donated by supporters and many local businesses – all of whom have received letters of thanks for their generosity. And the biggest sweat of the day was worked up by Islands Transport, which ferried the mass of goods to and from the sale. After deduction of expenses, the day raised a walloping total of €2,769.43, all of which will be spent on the care, vets’ bills and re-homing of the area’s many stray dogs and cats.

The Animal Awareness tent had a steady stream of visitors who were interested in the work we do. They were also able to see pictures of animals found in dreadful conditions and read about the recent municipal by-law regarding responsible dog ownership. Visitors were able to give an encouraging pat to Magpie, a rake-thin abandoned Podenco (Canarian hunting dog) now being cared for by the association – living proof of the plight of so many dogs on Tenerife. In 20 years of rescue work in Tenerife, Magpie is the worst and most advanced case of heartworm that I have personally come across. Since WAD he has started on the first stages of his heartworm treatment but there is no guarantee that he will survive. He was already coughing when he was picked up and obviously tested positive for filaria. Despite the fact that heartworm is endemic on the island, it was amazing how few people knew anything about it.

The branch would like to extend its grateful thanks, on behalf of the animals within their care, to all the helpers, sponsors of prizes and home baking, and the public who supported the event. Judith Noble, Asociación San Francisco de los Animales.

Romania Animal Rescue held the 'Lords of the Streets' event at the Athenee Palace Hotel in Bucharest on October 2 in honor of World Animal Day! Livia Brenner, of Romania Animal Rescue, hosted and planned the entire event, with the help of Cristina Peterson of St. Francis of Assisi (Romanian charity). More information and images to follow. Sincerely, Nancy Janes, Romania Animal Rescue, Inc. Neuter or Spay - No More Strays!

IMAGE GALLERY
Selected additional images of events that took place in Europe in 2008