International Rescue Cat Day Date in the current year: March 2, 2024

Cats have been domesticated thousands of years ago; the domestic cat (Felis catus) is the only domesticated species in the Felidae family. It was originally thought that cats were domesticated in ancient Egypt around 5,000 years ago but recent archaeological and genetic evidence has shown that cat domestication occurred in Western Asia around 7500 BC.

As of 2021, there were 220 million owned cats and more than twice as many stray cats in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of cats who were born on the streets or have lost their owners are euthanized in shelters because they haven’t been adopted, and probably just as many homeless cats die of cold or starvation, get hit by cars, or are killed by dogs.

Animal rescues around the globe are doing what they can to reunite lost cats with their owners and find new loving homes for homeless cats. They also run spay and neutering programs to stop the over-breeding of homeless cats and thus reduce the number of unwanted animals in the streets. Many cat rescue groups are charities that are run by volunteers and rely on donations. Because of this, they need our support to continue doing what they do, and this includes helping them raise awareness of cat adoption.

International Rescue Cat Day was launched in 2019 by Yorkshire Cat Rescue, a UK charity that finds new homes for unwanted and stray cats and kittens in Yorkshire. The main goals of the project are to celebrate rescue cats and their owners and raise awareness of animal rescues and shelters around the world.

Of course, the best way to celebrate International Rescue Cat Day is to adopt a cat from a shelter or rescue a stray cat. However, adopting a pet is not the kind of decision that can be made lightly, plus rescue cats often have special behavioral and medical needs, so don’t rush to the shelter if you’re not sure that you will be able to provide your new pet with the best care. Most animal shelters have requirements for prospective adopters, so you can start with checking out your local shelter, learning about their requirements, and deciding whether you can really commit to adopting a cat.

Luckily, there are other ways to observe International Rescue Cat Day if you can’t adopt a cat for one reason or another. You can donate to or volunteer at your local cat rescue, help them organize an International Rescue Cat Day event, or check to see if there are any lost cat posters in your neighborhood and help the owner look for their cat. If you’re a proud owner of a rescue cat, give your kitty some extra love and attention in honor of the holiday, for example, buy them a treat or a new toy. And don’t forget to spread the word using the hashtags #InternationalRescueCatDay and #RescueCatDay.