BE Kind to Animals Week begins on Thursday and will be celebrated by its creators at Edgar’s Mission animal sanctuary in Lancefield.
The week of dedicating kindness to animals was started a decade ago by the farm’s animal carers, who believe people should be kind to animals every day.
“Animals enrich our lives in so many ways, from our companions at home, to wildlife, sea creatures, birds, and our much-loved farmed animal friends,” founder and director Pam Ahern said.
“We know that we should be kind to animals every day of the year, but in our busy lives, sometimes that’s easy to forget.
“Be Kind to Animals Week is a grounding point in time where we can reflect on the enormous impact simple – and sometimes not so simple – acts of kindness can have on the fellow beings with whom we share this planet.”
To celebrate the event, the Review hosted a competition via its Facebook page, asking its readers to submit photos of their pets and explain why kindness to animals is important.
The photos, and their responses, were entered into three categories.
The winner for Most Dazzling Dog is baby Lily with St Bernard Daisy; Coolest Cat was Maverick, two, with Andy the Cat; and Most Unique Pet, Ella, eight, with rabbit Blair.
Prizes included two $30 PETstock Kilmore vouchers and a free groom from Pawfect Pinups, Broadford, with groomer Danielle Chisholm.
Review journalist Steph McNicol said she was inundated with submissions for the competition.
“There were so many gorgeous pictures to sort through, and I made everyone in our office vote because I couldn’t choose,” she said.
“It was so heart-warming to see everyone’s responses about the importance of being kind to animals, which made it even harder to narrow down our favourites.
“Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo – we hope you enjoy looking at these as much as we did.”
