Best Friends is calling on members of faith communities everywhere to Make a Difference for the Animals!
by Michelle Buckalew, Best Friends Animal Society May 4-10 is
Be Kind to Animals Week, which was officially created in 1915 by the American Humane Association, to celebrate the unique bond between humans and animals. As Best Friends Animal Society has made it a lifelong mission to demonstrate that the world is transformed through kindness to animals, we are calling on clergy, congregations, clubs and faith communities around the world to come together to join the Kindness Revolution. This upcoming week is the perfect time to reach out and help the animals wherever you are located.
During this special week there will be many animal-related events and activities that you can participate in or organize. We invite you to take the time and creativity to include a spiritual component to this very important week. Interested? Great!
There are numerous ways that you and your faith community can make a lasting difference for the animals: 1. Consider requesting a blessing for the animals from your local
clergy at your animal-related event. Or ask your faith leader to invite some of the animals from your local shelter to a blessing that he or she will host.
2. Do some research and find an animal-themed school activity online or at the library. Call on a school in your neighborhood and ask if they would consider using that activity in their
classrooms to celebrate the week. Check with the youth director at your faith organization to see if they’re interested in doing the same!
3. Contact
clubs from university campus faith-based clubs to civic organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis and request that they provide a presentation on the importance of being kind to animals in honor of this week.
4. Visit animal shelters and humane societies during this week and show your gratitude. Make a special card/package and deliver it with a special message of love, kindness and treats for the animals in your
community .
5. Ask your
clergy or Sunday School leader to include a message to his or her
congregation about the importance of being kind to animals. Ask if they might include something in the weekly program!
6. Write an article for your
faith community newsletter about how to introduce kindness and compassion for animals into our lives.
7. Be a compassionate
citizen! Cut some short pieces of yarn and lay them over bushes and tree branches in your yard. It's next building time and the birds will be very grateful. In a few weeks, you'll see your yarn woven into the nests they've built! Be sure to place them high up...out of reach of your dog or cat!
8. If you are a teacher or parent treat your kids or
classroom to an afternoon of fun! Gather some pinecones, create a loop hanger with some string or yarn, coat them in peanut butter and roll them in bird seed. Decorate the trees in your front yard, school yard or faith community.
9. Recruit fellow
congregants to visit and join the Best Friends Animals & Religion network community where they can read and endorse
A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion. Make sure you tell them to join the Animals & Religion Network Community too!
10. Help us celebrate
BE KIND TO ANIMALS WEEK! We want to showcase your efforts, so please send your stories, ideas and photos on how you helped to inspire others to make a difference for animals!
Just hit reply at the end of this article and share what you’re doing so that others will be inspired! Or send your photos and stories to krish@bestfriends.org and we’ll publish them right here on the Animals & Religion Network Community. Remember, no act on behalf of animals is too small. Won’t you celebrate BE KIND TO ANIMALS this week by helping to make a difference for animals in your community?
About Best Friends Animal Society
Located on 33,000 acres in Kanab, Utah, Best Friends Animal Society operates the country’s largest sanctuary for homeless animals and is home, on any given day, to about 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. Best Friends works globally with animal shelters and rescue groups to bring about a time when there will be no more homeless pets. Best Friends advances initiatives nationwide that promote community approaches to making the world a better place through kindness to animals, which includes adoption, spay-neuter, and humane education programs. http://www.bestfriends.org/
Photo courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society