DAILY EVENTS

2: Mutt Day - People love mutts (dogs with no particular breed) so much that they celebrate this day twice: on July 31 and December 2! “The idea of a day designated to raise awareness of homeless mixed breed dogs was conceived in 2005. To embrace, celebrate and help save the lives of mixed breed dogs. It’s to raise awareness of the plight of lovable mutts languishing in shelters across the U.S., waiting patiently for a family to take them home.” (http://healthypets.mercola.com/ sites/healthypets/archive/2013/12/02/ national-mutt-day.aspx) 4: Frances Power Cobbe’s birthday - This Irish feminist and writer was born in 1822. “Cobbe was…involved in the campaign against vivisection. In 1870 she advocated strengthening the law on experiments on animals, and over the next few years became one of the leaders of the British anti-vivisection movement. (http://spartacus-educational.com/

Wcobbe.htm) Vivisection is the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research. “

4: World Wildlife Day - “World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people. At the same time, the Day reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.” Learn more at http://www. wildlifeday.org/.

4: International Cheetah Day - “This special occasion is designed to educate young learners about the species, its plight, and inspire people of all ages to get involved with conservation efforts. The cheetah is not only the fastest, but it is also the oldest and sadly, Africa’s most endangered big cat. It has survived more than three million years through the Ice Age and a genetic bottleneck, only to have its numbers decimated by almost 90 percent in the last 100 years.” (http:// cheetah.org/press-release/10-ways-youcan-celebrate-international-cheetahday/) 9: Martin de Porres’s Birthday - Many pet blessings are celebrated on this day! Born in 1579 in Lima, Peru, Porres entered the Dominican clergy in 1601. “It is said he had many extraordinary abilities, including aerial flights, bilocation, instant cures, miraculous knowledge, spiritual knowledge and an excellent relationship with animals.” (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint. php?saint_id=306) 9-11: Philippine Bird Festival Organized by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, the tenth festival was held in the City of Balanga, to highlight the diverse bird life found in the province. “Each LGU adopted a bird species to represent their municipality and a Conservation Forum has held to tackle the threats to biodiversity in Bataan. Activities included was climb up Mt. Samat, an auction in support of the Asian Bird Fair Network, and very memorable Mayor’s Welcome Dinner and Governor’s

Farewell Dinner.” (https://ebonph. wordpress.com/2016/01/28/10-years-ofphilippine-bird-festivals/) 10: International Day of Animal Rights - “On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to prevent World War II and the concentration camps horrors from being repeated. Some years ago, individuals, organisations and associations from all over the world demanded that this should be extended to the other animals with which we share the planet and that December 10 should also be International Animal Rights Day.” (http:// www.internationalanimalrightsday.org/) 10: Festival for the Soul of Dead Whales -In mid-june, the first celebration, ‘Naluqatak,’ takes place. A second celebration takes place in November. The third part of the celebration takes place around Christmas, when “the remainder of the whale is distributed.” (http:// news.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2002/12/1210_021210_ whalespirits.html) 13: Day of the Horse (Second Saturday in December) - In 2004, the US Congress recognized the first official National Day of the Horse. (http://www.horsechannel.com/horsenews/2009/12/12/national-day-of-thehorse.aspx) 14: Monkey Day - Time to monkey around! “Monkey Day is an annual celebration of all things simian, a festival of primates, a chance to scream like a monkey and throw feces at whomever you choose. Or perhaps just a reason to hang out with your friends while grunting and picking fleas off each other.” (http://monkeyday.com/faq/)

14: Christmas Bird Count Week (December 14 - January 5) - This is the Audubon Society’s “longest-running citizen science bird project.” According their website, “Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas ‘Side Hunt.’ Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a ‘Christmas Bird Census’ that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.” (http://www.audubon.org/conservation/ history-christmas-bird-count) 27: Visit the Zoo Day - According to the Smithsonian Library, “If you visited the zoo prior to the twentieth century you would most likely have seen the animals behind bars in cages. But in the early 1900s Carl Hagenbeck decided he wanted to display animals in a more ‘natural’ venue. After years of working in his family’s wild animal trade business he created his ‘Tierpark’ in Stellingen, Germany.” (https://blog.library. si.edu/2010/12/december-27visit-thezoo-day/#.v9jc5pp9601)