World Stray Animals Day is on 4th April

Today is World Stray Animals Day - you can visit their Facebook page

The idea of the day is to raise awareness of the  600,000,000 stray animals in the world.  It also highlights the plight of strays who lead poor lives on our streets.  Many are suffer from hunger, have little shelter from very hot or very cold temperatures and have no veterinary care when they are injured or ill.  Too often they suffer at the hands of unkind, unthinking and cruel people.

The day gives us all a chance to get involved in taking action for stray animals over the planet, whether it's by simply spreading the word, organising events, doing a neuter campaign, or discovering more about the plight of strays worldwide.

The work of many organisations involves neutering, and many charities work to neuter feral cats and dogs.  Snip International is a UK based charity which is dedicated to improving animal welfare worldwide.  It is specifically dedicated to promoting the neutering of stray and feral cats and dogs worldwide.  In the 18 years it has been running, Snip International has donated over 1,100 items of specialist trapping, catching and holding equipment to animal welfare groups working in nearly 70 countries.  They also have a lot of practical advice on these subjects on their website.  They also have lots of ways you can help.

There's a lot of good work being done to reduce the amount of strays around in a humane way (i.e. neutering locals) to reduce the problem and simultaneously check out strays and feral animals at the same time.  But there's also a lot more to do, not least of which is to encourage owners to take pet responsibility seriously in the first place (i.e. don't take a pet on unless you are prepared to care for him or her) and if their circumstances really change, to contact an animal charity and bring them in, rather than leaving your pet to fend for him or herself on the streets. 

Finally, if you want to do something for stray animals today, please take a moment to sign this petition to help roaming dogs in Bali.  The Governor of the island ordered the mass killing of roaming dogs, claiming free-roaming dogs will lead to the spread of rabies.  The petition calls on the Bali government to stop killing dogs and to return to annual, comprehensive dog vaccination programmes which protect dogs and people.  Click here to find out more from IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare who are running the petition).

Please visit World Stray Animals Day and Snip International and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (who are currently working to help Chile's animals affected by flooding) to find out more.