April 10th is the birthday of the oldest human organization in the Western hemisphere, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The ASPCA is an amazing organization that, thanks to the efforts of thousands of dedicated volunteers, has helped make incredible strides in the protection of wild and domesticated animals in the United States.
I have been an ASPCA supporter for a long time. They have a fantastic, easy to use website with action items ready to be e-mailed to your local representative (like the current call for a law against the use of dog and raccoon dog fur.) But it wasn’t until after Hurricane Katrina that I really understood just how dedicated organization this is. Before the National Guard arrived, before FEMA, when heartbroken evacuees were forced to abandon their beloved companion animals to an uncertain fate, volunteers fought their way in with incredible speed to save countless animal lives.
In their 141st year, the ASPCA is launching a new program called Mission Orange, with the goal of working on communities one at a time to improve the lives of the animals who live there. In honor of this, they are asking everyone to wear orange on April 10th to show support for our animal friends and get the word out about their new program. I know orange is not my best color, I’m an earth tone kind of girl myself- but for this, I’ll do it! And I’ve got an orange bandana for my dog ready to go too!
jesvet
Griff sure loves his ASPCA bandanna
