{"id":13354,"date":"2014-09-22T04:50:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T08:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=13354"},"modified":"2014-09-23T22:56:07","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T02:56:07","slug":"thursday-september-25-is-remember-me-thursday-join-the-candle-lighting-ceremony-in-honor-of-pets-who-have-lost-their-lives-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/thursday-september-25-is-remember-me-thursday-join-the-candle-lighting-ceremony-in-honor-of-pets-who-have-lost-their-lives-worldwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, September 25 is Remember Me Thursday\u2122 – Join the Candle Lighting Ceremony in Honor of Pets Who Have Lost Their Lives Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s not something we like to think about, but literally thousands of precious animals will be euthanized across the world in the brief amount of time it takes you to read this post. It is heartbreaking, unfair, and very difficult for those of us that love animals to comprehend, but the fact is, it happens. But rather than harp on the ethics of it all, I ask for your help, enthusiasm, and dedication to helping make a difference by joining the Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0candle lighting awareness campaign on Thursday, September 25th with rescues and organizations worldwide to honor those animals that lost their lives without finding a forever home and to help find ways to increase adoptions for the millions of animals who still need a good home.<\/p>\n

So, just what is the Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0Awareness Movement and how can you be a part of it? The first Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0took place last year on September 26 and was the brainchild of Michael Arms, the President of the Helen Woodward Animal Center<\/a>. Already credited for creating both the “International Pet Adoptathon” and “Home 4 the Holidays” campaigns, Mike wanted a global event in honor of those compassionate and dedicated people working in animal welfare who are forced to take the lives of the pets they love. He felt that by lighting a candle for all those orphan pets, that it would be a way for people to let the world know how much they love them, that they weren’t forgotten, and that the awareness could help in increasing pet adoptions.<\/p>\n

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The cat in this picture is our Kizmet who we rescued in 2012. It is heartbreaking to think had we not adopted him, that his precious life may have ended…<\/p><\/div>\n

The event now takes place annually on the fourth Thursday of September with animal lovers and animal welfare organizations across the globe uniting with a Remember Me Thursday\u2122 pet candle-lighting ceremony. The candles, lit on the exact same day across the world, will honor the millions of pets who lost their lives without the benefit of a loving home and shine a light on the millions of healthy pets who are still awaiting adoption. The Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0global awareness campaign encourages individuals to light a candle this day (literally or virtually) and to opt to adopt, reducing the millions of orphan pets euthanized each year.<\/p>\n

139 countries united last year to support the movement, with over 100,000 individuals around the globe holding candle-lighting ceremonies of their own, spreading the message through social media or by visiting the Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0website and lighting a virtual candle and it is my hope we can help break that record this year by having all of you take the pledge to share the message and light a candle of your own.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook<\/a>It\u2019s so easy to participate – most of us have some sort of social media presence such as Facebook or Twitter, and one of the things you can do is change your profile pictures to the Remember Me Thursday\u2122 icon on this Thursday (just save the image I have provided as a jpg and you will be good to go) and encourage others to do the same.<\/p>\n

You are also more than welcome to share the compelling photo I created below featuring my sweet rescue Jazmine and the candle she will be sharing on Thursday. Just make sure that you use #LIGHTFORPETS to share your thoughts and feelings about the importance of pet adoption and encourage others to spread the word about Remember Me Thursday\u2122 in your status update. The whole point of this is to get it to go viral. Don\u2019t just post – post and ask for an animal loving, chain reaction share fest.<\/p>\n

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Our rescue, Jazmine, lights up our home with joy and love each and everyday and that is why I have chosen her to act as our ambassador to light a candle on behalf of Remember Me Thursday\u2122.<\/p><\/div>\n

You can also go to the Remember Me Thursday\u2122 site at remembermethursday.org<\/a>\u00a0to find out what rescues and organizations are holding special events, or to find press materials to host a candle lighting event in your own town including all kinds of great graphics to download and share. You will also be able to light a virtual candle on their Remember Me Thursday\u2122 \u00a0candle gallery\u00a0 on Thursday, so there really is no excuse at all not to participate \u2013 from the smallest gesture to the largest, every little bit helps and I do believe it is the least we can do to honor those that we have lost in vain. It is also a way to thank the success stories and be grateful for all the adopted animals that have brought love, companionship, and joy into our lives.<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Cheyenne Ellis<\/p><\/div>\n

There will also be several animal loving celebrities, behaviorists, and athletes who will come together to light candles, acting as luminaries to lend their voices for the event, including Katherine Heigl, official spokesperson, as well as Alan Cumming, Diane Keaton, Kristin Chenoweth, Kathy Najimy, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Eric Roberts, Ian Somerhalder, Sara Rue, Beth Stern, Carrie Ann Inaba, Anze Kopitar, David Backes, Jeff Carter, Mark Buehrle, Jackson Galaxy and Tamar Geller.<\/p>\n

With their help and voice, along with yours, let\u2019s make this a Thursday to Remember. And please be sure to stop back to visit Zee and Zoey\u2019s on Thursday. I will be sharing an extra-special animal loving interview with celebrity luminary, Eric Roberts, that you absolutely won\u2019t want to miss. In the meantime, please take a look at the\u00a0official Remember Me Thursday\u2122\u00a0campaign video featuring the inspiring song “It Will Be Me” by Kristin Chenoweth from her album \u201cAs I Am\u201d on Sony Masterworks.<\/p>\n