Acts of Kindness to Sweep Nation

by Barbara Wiiliamson

In first annual Kindness Index: Americans say we have ‘moral obligation’ to protect animals. Best Friends poll shows Americans abhor animal abuse, but are not yet taking action.

Kanab, UT –– The first annual Kindness Index, introduced today by Best Friends Animal Society, finds that most Americans, in addition to loving their pets, believe overwhelmingly that they have a moral obligation to protect animals.

They also are adamant about passing these values on to their children. “We are at a classic tipping point,” said Michael Mountain, president of Best Friends. “89 percent of Americans say they believe that animals should never be abused. Numbers like that speak for themselves.”

However, Best Friends believes that simple actions can be taken by individuals to help limit the number of animals abused and killed each year in factory farms, experimental laboratories, and even in animal shelters. The Kindness Index survey shows that much more can be done to match beliefs with actions.

For example, only 40 percent of Americans say they donate to animal welfare organizations, 43 percent adopt their pets from shelters, and only 7 percent have ever volunteered at a local shelter.

So the weekend of June 23-25, Best Friends is inviting people across the country to do acts of kindness on behalf of animals.

“Take your elderly neighbor’s dog for a walk,” says Mountain, “or make a donation to a local rescue group. Eat a vegetarian dinner, or, if you haven’t already done so, make arrangements to get your pets spayed or neutered. If each of us in our own communities does one good thing for the animals on this one weekend, we can demonstrate how easy it is to change the world. One animal, one person at a time, we can reach goals like having no more homeless pets. Kindness is an achievable goal.”

Based on the findings of this national poll, commissioned by the society and conducted among registered voters by survey firm Lake Research Partners, Best Friends has established the annual Kindness Index to gauge public sentiment toward animals.

The Kindness Index is derived from a selection of the survey questions that balance our ideals with our actions. Our ideals drive the index higher, while our actions still tend to pull it back down.

On a scale of one to ten, this year’s Kindness Index comes out at 5.86.
“We can certainly do better,” said Mountain. “And the Best Friends survey shows that people really want to do better. The major discovery of the poll is that far more people than we imagined really want better lives for the animals. And they’re prepared to help. We simply have to create the opportunities.”

Mountain notes that a hundred years ago, children in the United States still worked in factories. “Any nationwide poll would have shown that most people were entirely against child labor. But it was the humane societies that rallied to the cause, mobilized public opinion, and brought an end to institutionalized child abuse. We are now at a similar tipping point with the animals.”

Visit the Best Friends Day community and post your act of kindness for the animals.
Click Here for the Best Friends Day Community

Methodology
Full details of the survey and the Kindness Index are on the Best Friends website at www.bestfriends.org/kindnessindex.
Lake Research Partners designed and administered this survey, which was conducted by phone between March 27 and March 30, 2006.

The survey reached 1,000 registered voters ages 18 or older nationwide. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn from a random digit dial sample. The sample was stratified geographically based on the proportion of voters in each region. Data were weighted slightly by age, education and race to reflect the attributes of the actual population of registered voters. The margin of error is +/-3.1%.

Best Friends Animal Society operates the country’s largest sanctuary for homeless animals, and works with its members, and with shelters and rescue groups nationwide, to provide adoption, spay/neuter, and educational programs, and to bring about a time where there will be no more homeless pets.

Best Friends Animal Society: A better world through kindness to animals.