When is National Dress Up Your Pet Day?
January 14th is National Dress Up Your Pet Day.
What is National Dress Up Your Pet Day?
There is nothing cuter than a guinea pig in a gown. Well, except maybe a corgi in a cardigan, right? Maybe there are cuter things in the world. Still, pet owners love to show off their four-footed friends, and National Dress Up Your Pet Day is the perfect excuse to exhibit your adorable domesticated companions (even if they have more or fewer than four-feet).
Colleen Paige, an animal advocate and Celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert created National Dress Up Your Pet Day in 2009 as a way to promote pet adoption. Domesticated animals need homes to thrive because they often don’t have the skills necessary to survive outside a home. Adoption from a local shelter is a great way to rescue animals from the hardship of abandonment.
Some pets hate dressing up—and we don’t need to force it on them—but many don’t mind. So put your Siamese in a suit, and give your dachshund a dress, because it’s National Dress Up Your Pet Day.
Fun facts about National Dress Up Your Pet Day!
- Every year, 6.5 million dogs and cats enter U.S. animal shelters.
- Around 700,000 strays taken into shelters are restored to their owners each year.
- About 1.5 million animals are euthanized annually, but another 3.2 million are adopted instead.
- Pet shelters must keep an animal for at least 72 hours before becoming its legal owner, after which the shelter could put it to sleep.
How to celebrate National Dress Up Your Pet Day:
- Gussy up your pets. Keep it safe and comfortable. Avoid costumes that would cause heat exhaustion, create choking hazards, or simply stress your pet out.
- Adopt a pet instead of buying from a pet store.
- Volunteer at a local shelter to play with animals and clean cages. Donate food and toys to animal welfare institutions.
What’s the hashtag for National Dress Up Your Pet Day?
Post photos of your pets all dolled up with #DressUpYourPetDay on social media.