Be Kind to Animals Week lines up stars to celebrate 100th birthday
These days, people pay piles of cash to pamper their pets, but problems remain on the farm and in the slaughterhouse, on movie sets and at animal shelters — even in the wild.
That’s why the American Humane Association is touting its past to move animal welfare forward. It’s celebrating 100 years of Be Kind to Animals Week, which draws celebrities, politicians and everyday enthusiasts each May to raise awareness about the plight of animals.
Day spas and designer duds for dogs are the norm now, but inhumane treatment springs up in places from puppy mills to jungles, where animals are killed for their tusks or pelts. In ways, there’s more work to do than when kindness week started in 1915.
Celebrities have asked people to combat different problems throughout the years, and history shows notables from Eleanor Roosevelt to Shirley Temple and John Wayne have a soft spot for helping animals.
No star is taking the lead this year, but the week will be expanded, lasting through 2015. Association leaders will make television appearances, hold open houses and provide materials to teach children compassion.
An interactive retrospective about the week’s history will appear online, and the group will tour schools with its travelling museum and a fleet of famed Red Star Rescue trucks used to save animals during disasters.
“It warms my heart because here we are, just as relevant today as we were 100 years ago,” said association president and CEO Robin Ganzert.
The group urges Americans to take a pledge on Kindness100.org to help animals by purchasing humanely raised eggs, meat and dairy; getting a pet from a shelter to cut down on euthanasia; watching movies featuring the No Animals Were Harmed end credit; and visiting zoos and aquariums to learn about wildlife conservation.
A century ago, the kindness celebration started amid the First World War and the toll it took on horses. Before the war ended in 1918, 10 million horses would die on European battlefields.
“I believe there is great value in continuing to train children in the proper attitude toward their pets,” first lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her syndicated newspaper column on April 13, 1943.
Learning compassion at a young age took root for veterinarian Marty Becker, who has taught millions of children about animals on Good Morning America and The Dr. Oz Show.