Monday, August 11, 2008

RATIONAL ANIMAL PRESENTS A UNIQUE EVENT IN CONJUNCTION WITH NATIONAL HOMELESS ANIMALS' DAY, August 16, 2008






This Saturday, people nationwide will be holding vigils, fundraisers, and other events to honor National Homeless Animals Day, August 16th, 2008. Here in New York City, a unique activity to help homeless animals will be taking place in Brooklyn.


Volunteers for Rational Animal will gather for the monthly "Mother's Comfort Project" event to sew cage comforters and make cat nip cat toys for homeless cats and dogs that are donated to New York City's Animal Care and Control.


This month's event will have special meaning as volunteers make comfortable beds for homeless animals on National Homeless Animals Day. Although there are far too many animals without homes, these beds help many of the animals in city shelters feel a little more at home.


City shelter staff stand by the power these handmade beds have on the ability to help an animal get adopted. Not only do the beds provide comfort, they calm animals that are stressed, reducing risk of illness and help potential adopters see an animal as a part of their family.


Purchased or donated beds carry the chemicals from mass manufacturing and often do not have the durability the handmade beds provide. Volunteers also have a chance to connect during these sewing sessions, building a community of animal advocates and sharing best practices to create a more effective movement to reduce the rate of euthanasia in the city's shelters.


The International Society for Animal Rights began National Homeless Animals' Day in 1992 to publicize dog and cat overpopulation in its overwhelming magnitude, to increase public awareness of the millions of dogs and cats killed in shelters annually for lack of homes, and to emphasize the importance of spaying and neutering companion animals. Over the last 15 years, National Homeless Animals' Day, commemorated on the third Saturday of August each year, has grown enormously in both number and content. Animal Rights/Welfare organizations, as well as individuals from around the world have taken part in the event to increase public awareness of this issue.


Rational Animal's cage comforter project, the Mother's Comfort Project, which began last year, has also grown in scope, popularity, and production.




MORE INFORMATION:
-About Rational Animal's Mother's Comfort Project:
http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/newsletter/07-11/comforters.htm
-About Making Cage Comforters:
http://www.nycacc.org/cagecomforters.htm
-About Rational Animal:
http://www.rational-animal.org

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