Celebrate National Animal Rights Day in the Wizarding World

June 4th is National Animal Rights Day. Celebrate Wizard-Style!

Started by the animal rights group, Our Planet. Theirs Too. in 2011 and celebrated on the first Sunday of June, National Animal Rights Day is a day observed in multiple countries around the world with the purpose of giving a voice to all animals and raising awareness for their rights.

To celebrate, we at the Fantastic Beasts Foundation decided to write a guide on how wizards, witches, and all magical people can help animals on National Animal Rights Day in the Wizarding World. 

5 Ways to Help Magical Creatures in the Wizarding World:

1. Visit a Sanctuary

Whether it is a reservation for Common Welsh Green dragons, or a sanctuary for animals who have escaped the slaughterhouse, visiting a sanctuary is a great way to connect with magical creatures who have been saved. One of our favorite operators of animal sanctuaries is the non-profit, Farm Sanctuary. 

2. Go Cage-free for Your Owl

Remember in Harry's second year when the Dursleys made Harry keep Hedwig locked up in her cage? Owls are highly intelligent and sensitive birds who are active at night and don't like to be touched, petted, or cuddled. Owls should not be used as photo props or be kept as "pets". Instead of using owls to deliver mail, try using a Patronus charm, muggle post, Ministry interdepartmental memos, or a telephone (however those work). 

J.K. Rowling herself has said: "If anybody has been influenced by my books to think an owl would be happiest shut in a small cage and kept in a house, I would like to take this opportunity to say as forcefully as I can, "you are wrong".

If you find that a Harry Potter-related event will feature live animals like owls, contact us with the details!

3. Try Eating Vegan

J.K. Rowling has said that students at Hogwarts can enjoy delicious vegan food just by nicely asking the elves working in the Hogwarts kitchen to make it for them. By choosing to not eat animals and instead eat vegan food, you can save more than 100 animals a year! Even Newt Scamander would support that. 

For a complete guide on how to eat vegan at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando, check out peta2's guide here.

4. Support Wizard-Based Entertainment

Animals who are used for the entertainment of wizards, witches, muggles, and squibs are often subjected to inhumane treatment and neglect. Animals who are forced to perform in circuses, marine parks, and Triwizard Tournaments are often beaten into submission, have food withheld, or are jinxed into performing these cruel and otherwise completely unnatural acts all for our amusement.

We advocate attending non-animal, human-based entertainment like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, conventions like LeakyCon, or the Quidditch World Cup.

5. Always Adopt

​What would happen if Knockturn Alley breeders started breeding their own Pygmy Puffs for profit so quickly that it created a Pygmy Puff overpopulation crisis in the Wizarding World? Every year 6-8 million cats and dogs enter U.S. shelters and only about 3-4 million of them find good homes. We can help end the overpopulation of cats, dogs, and Pygmy Puffs.

Visit AdoptAPygmyPuff.com to learn how you can help stop the companion animal overpopulation crisis. 

For more ways to help animals, join the Fantastic Beasts Foundation!