World Animal Day goes back to a request by the writer Heinrich Zimmermann in 1924. The first event then took place on October 4, 1925 in the Berlin Sportpalast. From May 12 to 17, 1929 Vienna was the third venue for the International Animal Welfare Congress, in which representatives of 152 animal welfare associations from 32 countries took part. The congress passed a 23-point catalog of demands. Point 23 provided for the introduction of an – animal protection day. On May 8, 1931, the time had come. At the International Animal Welfare Congress in Florence, the first international – World Animal Welfare Day – was proclaimed for October 4th. On this day we commemorate Saint Francis of Assisi, who died on the evening of October 3, 1226 (according to Roman-ancient understanding at that time, the time after sunset was already on the following day, October 4.)
