The month of April has several pet events occurring individually. However, the entire month is about preventing cruelty to animals and pet events – animal welfare!
April Events
Our USA National Pet Day which I have mentioned in earlier posts is celebrated on April 11th.
I hope you give your pets some extra loving attention. In that regard, you can see some of my suggestions for toys and treats here: “Celebrate National Pet Day“.
Zoo Med Education Week
Secondly, ZooMed.com has announced their International Turtle and Tortoise Week – April 18 through April 24. You can learn all about these amazing creatures through Zoo Med’s newsletters and social media posts. They offer free educational materials to educators. Also they provide all kinds of fun activities for students to learn about these reptiles.
Lastly, I want to mention again that the entire month of April focuses on the prevention of cruelty to animals and the animal welfare of all earth’s animals. Here is the information from my April happenings post: “Pet Happening Days in April” .
On that topic I want to note some great non-profit organizations devoted to looking after and protecting our earth’s animals:
Non-Profits for Animal Safety
My research on top recommended animal welfare organizations is with three review sites: CharityCharge.com, TheSprucePets.com, and DonorBox.org. Just two sites agree on three of the same protection groups. Those include Best Friends Animal Society, The Humane Society, and ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Following you will see some background information on each.
Best Friends Animal Society
This society was started as a sanctuary for homeless and functional needs animals by a group of friends in Utah concerned with animal safety. The friends started with few resources in 1984. Today they have a network across the USA. Their no-kill communities are located in Utah, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas.
See ways to volunteer or donate and more information on their site Best Friends.org.
The Humane Society
This animal welfare organization began clear back in 1954. In their own words: “together with millions of supporters, the Humane Society of the United States takes on puppy mills, factory farms, the fur trade, trophy hunting, animal cosmetics testing and other cruel industries”.
They help thousands of animals every year and fight all types of animal cruelty as just stated. To enable these efforts they have the help of expert rescuers, caregivers, and sanctuaries, as well as their own international affiliate.
See additional facts and ways to get involved at humanesociety.org.
ASPCA
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was the first humane society established in North America way back in 1866 in New York, New York. The ASPCA was founded by a man named Henry Bergh after he witnessed a carriage driver whipping his fallen horse. Since then this organization has been helping to pass legislation on dog fighting rings and puppy mills. This society helps animals through investigations, rescues, and animal care. They have over 2 million supporters across the USA.
More info can be seen at ASPCA.org.
Local Non-profit Animal Welfare Groups
In further research of local groups I found these top listed local welfare groups:
Oregon Humane Society
I wrote about our local Humane Society a few weeks ago in “Best Animal Shelter Websites”.
As related in that post our local Humane Society began in 1868 and is the largest welfare agency in the Northwest and the fourth oldest in our country. They rescue and assist over 11,000 animals every year.
Their story can be seen at Oregon Human Society.
Multnomah County Animal Services
This organization provides 24 hour response services for emergencies for animal issues and safety, as well as adoptions, and licensing for your pets. Animal abuse and neglect and possible dangerous animals are the subject of their investigative concerns.
They are a founding member of the Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland whose mission it is to end euthanasia of healthy pets. See more info on this here: multcopets.org.
Portland Animal Welfare Team
This team was formed by veterinarians in the early 1990’s. These animal lovers and doctors formed a network of vets and vet pros and volunteers. They provide veterinary care and services free-of-charge to homeless pet owners and those living in poverty. In 2003 they became an official non-profit organization.
See how you can help this group here: pawteam.org.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
1n 1979 a group of attorneys founded this defense fund to file lawsuits protecting our animals in research, captivity, companion animals, farming animals, and wildlife. They assist prosecutors with free legal help and training in animal cases.
Headquartered in Cotati, California, they work at federal, state, and local levels. Each year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund publishes its “U.S. State Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report“.
Each state is ranked based on 20 different categories of animal protection. Oregon shows an overall rank of 3 in the top tier.
You can see details about this defense fund here: aldf.org.
There are many more great rescues, sanctuaries, shelters, and animal protection groups available for our animals. Do your own search for your local area.
Pet Food Recall Notice
Please do remember to safeguard your pets by checking on pet food recalls either through the FDA.org site or subscribe to recall notices through Dog Food Advisor.com.
Thanks
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Pet Videos
Before leaving, here are two very fun animal videos to enjoy:
The first about a dog finding a home: https://biggeekdad.com/2021/04/stray-dogs-finds-perfect-family/.
The second on wildlife: https://biggeekdad.com/2013/09/african-wildlife/.
So glad you featured animal abuse and neglect. Sure need to keep getting this message out. Thanks for the resources. As always, love the animal videos which leave me laughing and crying.
Glad you stopped by Katrob.