World Animal Day 2025: Save Animals, Save the Planet!
Use the FOUR PAWS Animal Welfare Advocacy Guide to take small steps of Kindness this World Animal Day
Cape Town, 29 September 2025 — On 4 October, South Africans will join the global community in celebrating World Animal Day, a time to pause and reflect on the animals who share our lives, our land and our homes. This year’s theme "Save Animals, Save the Planet!", reminds us that animals are not just part of our environment, but part of our communities and caring for them is our shared responsibility.
Instead of a physical gathering outside Parliament this year, FOUR PAWS is calling on individuals, schools, organisations, and communities across the country to mark the day in their own way, using the Animal Welfare Advocacy Guide for a Kinder World. This guide is a simple, practical tool that helps South Africans advocate for stronger animal protection laws while making more compassionate choices in everyday life.
From our wildlife in the Kruger National Park to our beloved dogs and cats in our townships, this year’s theme honours all animals, wild, farm and companion as rightful co-inhabitants of our land. The day is a gentle reminder for us that highlights urgent issues like wildlife exploitation, factory farming, and the safe and humane care of stray animals. World Animal Day inspires us to respect animals’ rights to live freely and safely and to push for stronger protections in law and practice.
The Advocacy Guide: Your Toolkit for Change
- The Animal Welfare Advocacy Guide, launched by FOUR PAWS South Africa, offers:
- Steps to engage with local and national government.
- Templates for letters and petitions.
- Tips for hosting awareness events in your community.
- Guidance on ethical choices in food, fashion, and travel (#LiveKinder, #EatKinder, #WearItKind & #TravelKind).
- Like, follow and tag us at FOUR PAWS South Africa with your activities for the day.
World Animal Day is more than a celebration, it’s a reflection of Ubuntu, reminding us that our humanity is deeply connected to how we treat all living beings. This year, let us recommit to building a South Africa where animals are treated with respect, empathy and understanding.
The Animal Welfare Advocacy Guide is available for download here. For more information, please visit our website at www.four-paws.org.za
ENDS/
Deidre Daniels
Public Relations Officer+27 (0)21 702 4277
+27 (0)78 675 8220
9B Bell Crescent, Westlake Business Park,
Green Building, Cape Town, 7945
A Public Relations professional with over eight years’ experience in fostering positive relationships between organisations and media.
FOUR PAWS in South Africa on Social Media
Stay up to date on this topic and on all FOUR PAWS activities on our social media channels:
or subscribe to FOUR PAWS in South Africa newsletter.
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.za