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National Puppy Day Brings Star-Studded Awareness To Orphaned Animals, Public Reminded Of Cruelty Of Puppy Mills

By Nicole Nolan
Published on: 22:48 PST, Mar 23, 2015

National Puppy Day 2015 once again turned into a viral international celebration of our furry friends, with celebrities helping to make the annual holiday even more popular an event.

Founded in 2006 by Celebrity Pet & Home Lifestyle Expert and Author, Colleen Paige (daughter of the late award-winning actor Robert Paige), National Puppy Day takes place each year in addition to Miss Paige’s other founded pet-celebrating holidays, National Dog Day, National Cat Day, National Mutt Day, and quite a few others.

As the National Puppy Day website states, March 23 is a day “to celebrate the magic and unconditional love that puppies bring to our lives”.

“[It is] a day to help save orphaned puppies across the globe and educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills.”

The message is clear: always consider adoption first.

Currently, there still exist up to an estimated 10,000 puppy mills in the U.S. alone, where the poor animals are kept in filthy, cramped cages with little human contact – and no comfort or love. Their purpose is for profit, their destination pet stores across the country. Those that aren’t sold (and those which are, but don’t know how to interact with humans, resulting in behavior problems) end up in already over-brimming shelters, or destroyed.

The purpose of National Puppy Day is to make the public aware of this atrocity, and to highlight the need for responsible puppy-ownership: consistent veterinary care and spaying or neutering. Miss Paige, author of The Good Behavior Book For Dogs, rescued her first animal at the age of 5 years, when a one-eyed cat came scratching at her kitchen door. Ever since Bengal came into her life, she has felt it her mission to do something about the often horrendous treatment and neglect of animals throughout America – and the world. Indeed, National Puppy Day and her other animal-celebratory days have become international affairs.

And this international awareness of cruelty to puppies and dogs, kittens and cats, is crucial. As the Inquisitr recently reported, on Thursday March 19 SPCA authorities from San Francisco aided in the efforts of the Humane Society International and the Change For Animals Foundation in a rescue operation of 57 dogs in South Korea which were being kept in cages for the purpose of being sold as dog meat. The animals have been taken into care and will be treated and made ready for adoption into loving homes.

As NBC Connecticut reported, #NationalPuppyDay has been annually trending on Twitter since 2012. Thanks in no small part, one would guess, to the celebrity factor. This year, as Hollywood Life reports, stars taking part in the holiday included Vanessa Hudgens, Kaley Cuoco, and Ariana Grande (with all six of her dogs!). They took to social media to show their support of the holiday and share photographic evidence of their absolute love for cute, defenseless puppies.

If you didn’t celebrate National Puppy Day this year, National Dog Day 2015 will take place on August 26, with National Mutt Day following December 2. And if you’re more of a feline fancier, National Cat Day will round on October 29.

Remember, always consider adoption first. Your puppy will thank you for it with truly unconditional love.

[Image courtesy of Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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