Annual "Blessing of the Animals" Service is back!

What:

In honor of St. Francis Day, many Catholic churches nationwide offer an Animal Blessing Service, where animal lovers bring their pets to be blessed by a Priest, and to share in a magical blessing of animals from rescue shelters and farms!

Where:

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Soho offers a beautiful service to honor St. Francis of Assisi. This year, Rational Animal will be there to hand out Trails to Tails maps & Orange Ribbons! Come stop by our table & say hi!

When:

Sunday, October 3rd. Service starts at 1 pm.

For more information, contact:

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua

154 Sullivan St

New York, NY 10012

212-777-2755

Buy Art to Help NY Animals in Need

What: Gala and silent art auction whose proceeds go to five wonderful New York City nonprofits working on behalf of animals

When*: Thursday, October 21, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Where*: 3rd Floor, 548 Broadway, New York, NY 10012

*Or bid in advance

The event will benefit the following organizations: A Tail at a Time, Bideawee, Ready for Rescue, Stray from the Heart, and Waggin' Train Rescue, all of which are participating organizations of the Mayors Alliance for Animals, which also generously supports Rational Animal.

The art on auction is all dog- or cat-themed, and was donated by New York City artists. To view the art in person before the gala and auction, go to PetHealthStore, located at 440 Amsterdam Avenue (at 81st Street) in Manhattan.

For more details on the event, read the press release.

You're 2 clicks away from voting to build New York City's 1st Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Can you believe that New York City is the only metropolitan city in the US that doesn't have a wildlife rehabilitation center? You can vote to change that!

The Pepsi Refresh Project has $1.3 million in funding to distribute across good causes with the most votes!

The Wild Bird Fund treats over 1,000 wild birds & animals in New York City each year, and they're running out of space. With your votes, The Wild Bird Fund could receive $250,000 to build New York City's first Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center in Manhattan!

Click here to vote daily until Sep 30th!

How you can help NYC Horses

For over 100 years, horses have endured unnatural circumstances in Manhattan to keep the carriage-ride industry profitable. Year after year, NYC horses work year-round long hours, live in uncomfortable and inadequate urban housing quarters, and are forced to tolerate the crowded, chaotic streets of Manhattan.....all because people are still paying for a ride around Central Park. This is another example of how humans exploit animals for their own entertainment. Horses belong in pastures, not on an island full of 8+ million people. Fortunately, there are animal-rights groups that work tirelessly to help raise awareness about this cruel industry and to provide help to the horses.

In early 2010, Intro 35 was passed,which grants horses 5 weeks vacation per year. Stables are becoming more regulated, however the ultimate goal is to ban this industry forever. Intro 86 is a new legislation that plans to phase out New York City's horse carriage industry and replace it with an ecofriendly horseless carriage. This will ultimately not only be best for the horses, but also for the streets of New York. This means less crashes, more money for NYC through these tourist vintage car rides, and much happier lives for horses. Two strong supporters of Intro. 86 are the ASPCA (American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets).

How you can help

• If you live in New York City, contact your Councilmember and ask him or her to support Intro. 86.
• Click here to submit an email to NYC Council members to support Intro 86
• "Like" NYCLASS on Facebook and spread the news to your friends
• Watch this documentary "Blinders: The Movie" to educate yourself about the cruel horse-carriage industry
• Report horse abuse. If you're a witness to abuse, call 212-876-7700 to report it!