Million Acts of Kindness program raises love, money and awareness for BC animals
By Contributor
A single dog in a hot car, overheated and in distress on a scorching summer day, rescued because one kind stranger called the BCSPCA cruelty hotline – a number he entered into his phone as one of the featured kind acts in the year-long Million Acts of Kindness (MAK) movement. Thanks to the kindness of animal lovers across the province, the BC SPCA’s MAK initiative has now reached, and surpassed, the half-million mark, as participants complete small acts of kindness and report they’ve done each one. Intended to generate one million acts of kindness by the end of 2015 as the BC SPCA celebrates its 120th year of helping the province’s most vulnerable animals, the movement is meant to improve the lives of companion, farm and wild animals.
“We’re so excited that we’ve made it past the 500,000 mark on our kindness counter!” says Lorie Chortyk, BC SPCA general manager of community relations, referring to the kind acts counter on the MAK website (millionacts.ca). “It’s great to see how many animal lovers out there are actively engaged with the Million Acts of Kindness movement and how they’re embracing the chance to carry out kind acts to help animals. We are so grateful to everyone who is helping to make this happen.”
Each week, an act of kindness that is easy for pet guardians and non-pet guardians alike to complete is featured on the MAK website, whether it’s entering the BC SPCA cruelty hotline – 1-855-622-7722 – into their cellphones, choosing to purchase cage-free eggs, or spreading the message about spaying and neutering pets on social media. Kind acts also include animals who have been rescued from cruel or neglectful situations, as well as animals who have been adopted from BC SPCA branches throughout the province, among others. One of the most popular featured acts was pledging to never leave animals in a hot vehicle to get a free #hotpetsnotcool car decal to help spread the word, as the BC SPCA has received more than 1,200 calls about pets in hot vehicles so far this year.
“We hope the momentum keeps building – it doesn’t hurt anyone to be kind to animals, and we’re really hoping we reach that one million mark,” Chortyk says. “Anyone can register at millionacts.ca and catch up on their kindness by finding and carrying out the acts we’ve already featured, and completing the ones to come.”
Visit millionacts.ca for more information.
