War Animal Day
We lead the tributes from the UK for the world’s first War Animal Day to remember the service and sacrifice of animals in two world wars, numerous conflicts since and the role that service animals play today.
We join organisations and charities from Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada and France who, like us, will wear their purple poppies, the official symbol for War Animal Day, with pride. The emblems might be slightly different but the message is uniform. By doing so we honour the many millions of horses, mules, donkeys, dogs, cats and pigeons who served and often died alongside the soldiers and their handlers. This special video was produced to mark the occasion, and features our friends from around the world, including our international Ambassadors.
Poppy, our War Horse, symbolises our commitment to this great cause and she, in turn, has proved to be a catalyst for tributes in New Zealand, Australia and Little London in Hampshire, which have been made in her likeness. Today we celebrate the unveiling of The National Service Animals Monument in the United States created by Susan Bahary, a world-renowned sculptor of service animal monuments, and a leader in raising awareness of the contributions and sacrifices of service animals and their handlers.
Susan’s latest work (pictured above) is The Pledge Monument, and is showcased at the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, her international monuments include the War Animal Memorial, the first monument in the world to honour the nine million animals that died in the Western Front in WWI located in Pozieres, France; the Australian War Animals Memorial located in the Heritage Rose Garden, Queensland, Australia and the New Zealand War Animal Memorial at the National Army Museum of New Zealand.
If, like us, you believe that remembering matters, please wear a purple poppy to show you care. Pin badges or knitted purple poppies are available from our website shop for our next important date in the calendar which is June 8. That is when we celebrate the third anniversary of the unveiling of our magnificent national and Commonwealth monument, and the launch of our 2021 Animal Purple Poppy Fund.
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