National Mutt Day Date in the current year: December 2, 2024

Paige has created a plethora of animal-related philanthropic holidays designed to celebrate all pets, raise awareness of unwanted pets that need a home and issues like animal cruelty, and encourage adoption. National Mutt Day in particular was created to encourage people to rescue mixed breed dogs from shelters.

Mixed-breed dogs, also referred to as mutts or mongrels, are dogs that do not belong to one of the officially recognized breeds and are not the result of intentional breeding (as opposed to crossbreed dogs). According to statistics, approximately 80% of dogs in American shelters are mixed breeds. Most pure bred dogs are generally rescued quicker by people who have always wanted a pure bred dog but couldn’t afford it, while mutts usually have a lower chance of being adopted.

The main purpose of National Mutt Day is to celebrate mixed breed dogs, educate people about their amazing characteristics, and encourage the public to save mongrels. Mutts tend to be healthier and live longer than pure bred dogs, and are just as able to sniff drugs or bombs, search and rescue, guide the blind, or perform other duties, which makes them excellent companions.

The best way to celebrate National Mutt Day is to adopt a mixed breed friend. If you can’t adopt a dog for some reason, you can donate money, food or supplies to your local animal shelter.