Every day in our home is Celebrate Shelter Pets Day (just ask our two dogs and three cats–all former shelter residents) but we can all really pull out the stops every December for this one-day event.

When is Celebrate Shelter Pets Day?

Celebrate Shelter Pets Day is observed every December 5. This pet holiday began in 2010 as a joint project by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Maddie’s Fund as a day for people who have adopted pets to share photos on social media.

First called Shelter Pets Take Over Facebook Day, the day was invented as a fun way for people to show their adopted pets–which would then hopefully encourage more people to consider pet adoption.

The reason the groups took this approach was because surveys they had conducted showed, “People are three times more likely to go to a shelter or rescue group when