Seeing The World Through Their Eyes
This World Animal Day, the 2026 theme asks us to imagine how other species experience the places we share with them.
World Animal Day falls on Sunday 4 October, and this year's theme is "See the World Through Their Eyes". It asks us to step out of a human-centred view and consider what other animals fear, need and enjoy. It also asks us to act on what we find.
A century-old idea
The day began in Berlin on 24 March 1925. Heinrich Zimmermann, a Polish-born journalist and publisher who edited the magazine Mensch und Hund (Man and Dog), gathered more than 5,000 people at the Sports Palace. He had wanted to hold the event on 4 October, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. The venue wasn't available, so March it was.
The date moved to 4 October in 1929. Two years later, in May 1931, delegates at the International Animal Protection Congress in Florence unanimously adopted his proposal to make 4 October the universal day. It is sometimes claimed the day began in Florence in 1931, but that was the moment it went global, not the moment it began.
Since 2003 the UK-based Naturewatch Foundation has coordinated the day. More than 90 ambassadors in over 70 countries now help carry the message, and last year marked the centenary. It differs from the UN's World Wildlife Day on 3 March, which focuses on wild species and trade. World Animal Day takes in every animal: wild, domestic, farmed, working and sheltered. Naturewatch has set a theme each year since 2022. Last year's was "The world is their home too", and this year's builds on it.
The 2026 theme
The theme was chosen from public submissions and came from Zoe Bizicki, communications and operations officer at the Orangutan Foundation. In her account of how it came about, she describes following a green sea turtle through the water and thinking of a hawk riding the wind. Two creatures, one in the sea and one in the sky, each master of its own element, will never know of one another. There is no single rule for all in this world, she writes, and imagining another species' view of it is a way to reflect on our own place in it.
Organisers say the theme is not only about avoiding cruelty. It is about creating conditions where animals can live healthy, fulfilling lives. That means thinking about fear, comfort, hunger, pain and play, and about how much many animals depend on us for safety and habitat.
This year's commemorative stamp, by illustrator Emma Jayne, makes the point visually. A fish-shaped lens shows coral and coral bleaching. It is a reminder that warming seas reshape life on the reef for every creature that lives there, not just the ones we notice.
Why it resonates in Australia
Few countries have as much to gain from a change of perspective. Habitat clearing, drought, fire and extreme weather affect iconic species such as koalas and migratory shorebirds. They also affect the possums, birds and shelter animals closer to home, and the reef fish whose world is changing as the water warms.
Pam Ahern OAM of Edgar's Mission, the Australian Ambassador for World Animal Day, says the shift starts with curiosity. When we stop seeing animals only for what they provide and wonder what the world looks and feels like to them, our choices begin to change and our circle of compassion widens. Her organisation is encouraging simple, local steps. A workplace could host a plant-based morning tea, a school could explore animals' abilities and emotional lives, and a library could set up a kindness display. Anyone can start a conversation that helps someone see animals a little differently.
Small ways to take part
None of this needs a big budget or a grand gesture:
Watch an animal you know. A dog, a chook, a possum or a backyard bird will do. Note what calms it and what stresses it, and how much of that is shaped by what you do.
Fix one thing at home. Add shade and fresh water for pets and wildlife, check fencing for hazards, cut back on chemicals, or plant for birds and possums.
Back the carers. Donate, give supplies or volunteer with a local shelter or wildlife carer, especially those caring for native animals after fire, flood or drought.
Shop with welfare in mind. Find out what "free-range" and similar labels actually mean before you rely on them, and waste less food.
Keep waste out of waterways. Cutting plastic that ends up in creeks and the sea helps aquatic life, which the day's brief asks us to remember alongside pets.
Join in. The official campaign includes a mug design competition and Donate a Dinner, which raises funds for animals in need. Local events are listed on the World Animal Day website.
Share the idea. Talk about it with family, post about it, or write a short piece or letter to the editor on what "seeing through their eyes" means in your community.
Beyond a single day
Animals are not background characters in the human story. They are sentient beings with their own experiences and needs.
Seeing the world through their eyes won't by itself solve habitat loss or climate change, but it can change what we choose to protect, what we buy and how we treat the animals closest to us.
On 4 October and every day after, that is a good place to start.
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