Commit random acts of kindness -- all year long

Since Monday, the Seattle Animal Shelter has been promoting Be Kind to Animals Week. I love the sentiment and admire the work of the Seattle Animal Shelter [1]. I have a major soft spot for them, since that's where I found my dog Lulu. In the spirit of the thing, the Shelter suggests excellent actions such as encouraging family and friends to spay or neuter their pets, creating spaces for wildlife, reporting animal abuse or neglect, volunteering at your local animal shelter and speaking out on the importance of respecting animals.

But I'm irritated by the whole "week" thing; a week for being kind seems like an awfully low bar, even if this is merely a symbol to raise consciousness. It's like Mother's Day. Just one day? Think about it this way: Be Kind to Animals Week, an invention of the American Humane Association [2], has been around for 93 years. If you do the math, it doesn't even add up to two full years of kindness.

So, how about launching a Be Kind to Animals Lifetime -- and I'm including human animals in that mix? Wouldn't that be something?

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