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Paws at the Beach 2010 – World Animal Day 2010

A purrfect celebration!

World Animal Day has been celebrated since 1931 and the event is currently celebrated in over 80 countries. 4 October was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals. This year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) joined forces with other animal welfare groups to celebrate World Animal Day on Sunday 10 October at East Coast Park. Hundreds of animal lovers (and their furry friends) joined us on a beautiful sunny day to celebrate animal life in all its forms. The event was a huge success and we raised almost $6,500. A big ‘thank you’ to all of you who came together to celebrate this important occasion in the animal calendar!

A parade of Harleys roars down Orchard Road and into East Coast Park

A Grand Opening

The fun kicked off with a parade of Harley-Davidson motorbikes to raise the profile of the event and of this year’s event campaign ‘stop cruelty in puppy mills. adopt. don’t buy’. The convoy of bikes, together with SPCA’s van emblazoned with the campaign message, roared down Orchard Road all the way to East Coast Park. Cruising in (in style) was Deirdre Moss, SPCA’s Executive Director, followed by representatives from other Singapore animal welfare groups - including ACRES, Action for Singapore Dogs, Animal Lovers League and Cat Welfare Society.

Countless spectators watched their grand entrance into the park! You can watch a clip of the parade here. The fun did not stop there; many of you donated $5 in exchange for a ride on a Harley that afternoon!

Many of you enjoyed the games, demonstrations, contests and educational exhibitions

Fun and Festivities

The day was filled with lots of activities - many animal lovers took part in one of our three doggy contests - ‘Happiest Pet’, ‘Wiggle-Waggle’ (waggiest tail) and the ‘Super Smarties’ obedience competition. Congratulations to all the winners who took home their very own goody bags which were kindly donated by FuzzYard and Hill’s Science Diet!

There were several performances on the day, including a dog obedience demonstration by Singapore Kennel Club, our amazing magician Kunalen and Valerie from FuzzYard with her talk “My Naughty Dog Needs Help”. The performances ended with a grand finale by Smart Doggy’s highly energetic and interactive dog Frisbee performance which many of you watched in awe!

Impressive dog shows wow the crowds, while professional groomers pamper with pooch pedicures!

While people offered their support just by being there on the day or making a small donation, others showed support in a different way! Lots of you made a personal commitment to improving the lives of animals by taking the pledge on our ‘World Animal Day Pledge Board’. Those who were brave enough also showed their support with a temporary animal tattoo with one of the event’s important campaign messages.

The ‘Pledge Board’ and the animal tattoo stand were popular attractions!

Kick-starting our Puppy Mills Campaign

While the event was full of fun activities for everyone, there was also a more serious side to the day. The main aim of this year's celebrations was to raise awareness about the cruelty and harsh realities behind puppy mills. Puppy mills are commercial dog-breeding facilities that operate specifically to make profit through the sale of puppies, and often house animals in poor conditions in order to keep costs low. Many of you who visited the puppy mills awareness booth were shocked to learn the truth about the ‘cruelty behind the cuteness’ and $700 was raised for the campaign through the sale of our limited edition t-shirts. To find out more about puppy mills and how you can support, please visit www.sgpuppies.com.

Wear the t-shirt and show your support!

Animal Cruelty

In view of the shocking cases of animal abuse that have emerged over the past 12 months, we also showcased some of our unsolved cases to raise awareness about animal cruelty in the hope of generating some new leads from the public.

“I’m still looking for a loving home!”

Dog Adoption Drive Although none of the animals were adopted on the day, they all enjoyed a fun day out at the beach mingling and cuddling up to people. The adoption drive achieved our goal of raising awareness of puppy mills and encouraging people to think twice about buying an animal. All of the gorgeous animals at the event are still very much in need of loving homes. For more information visit our online adoption gallery here.

A Great End to a Great Day

As a show of solidarity, support and love for animals, the day ended with a mass walk of animal lovers and their four-legged friends around East Coast Park.

Owners and their dogs join in the fun on a mass walk!

THANK YOU!

You can check out all the action at www.spca.org.sg.

We’re looking forward to World Animal Day 2011 already!

Here’s what some of you had to say about the day:

“Great event !! many friendly doggies roaming all over the place !!”

“Awesome event! Congratulations on the success, SPCA!”

“Please have more such events...”

With special acknowledgement to:

Action for Singapore Dogs

ACRES

Animal Lovers League

Benjamin and Squeaker

Cat Welfare Society

Dinesh Pasrasurum

FuzzYard

Feline Tattoo

Hill’s Science Diet

House Rabbit Society of Singapore

John Tan

Mirage Event Management

National Parks Board

Noah’s Ark CARES

Pet’s Magazine

Richard Copping

Singapore Kennel Club

Sivakunalen Samuel

Smartdoggy

SMU PAWS

SPCA Volunteers

Tampines Junior College

Victoria Junior College

Warpigs (MC)