This week, May 4-10 is the American Humane Association’s Be Kind to Animals Week! The group created this celebratory week in 1915 to celebrate the unique bond between humans and animals.

Though we all love our fur-babies, there are some special things we can do this week to work towards a better future for all animals, everywhere.

So how can you be kind to animals this week? The AHA recommends the following:

Speak out for animals. Get active in local animal welfare policies and legislation.

Report animal abuse. While acts of violence against animals are tragic in their own right, they are also a red flag for other violent behavior, including domestic abuse and violent crime.

Appreciate wildlife. Create an inviting space in your yard or garden for butterflies and birds. Feed the local birds, ducks, bunnies, deer, etc. (Some people might disagree with this one, but oh well. This is my feeling on the subject of starving wild animals).

Make a donation to a local animal shelter. A donation can be monetary, but you can also volunteer or offer up some other service in-kind like contributing to the shelter’s marketing efforts, etc.

Adopt a pet from a shelter or a breed-specific rescue. Approximately 8 to 12 million animals enter our nation’s shelters every year, and more than half of these pets will have to be euthanized because of a lack of homes. Local shelters are the best place to find companion animals, even purebreds — 1 of every 4 dogs in a shelter is a purebred.

Educate others. Share information about animal welfare issues with friends, family and co-workers. Research an issue close to heart, i.e. puppy mills, factory farming, breed-specific legislation, and do something about it! Write letters, call legislators, and get involved with animal welfare advocacy groups!

Spay and neuter. Help solve the problem of euthanasia of adoptable animals by not contributing to it. Make sure your cats and dogs are spayed and neutered.

Four paws to the City of Los Angeles! It was announced yesterday that the Los Angeles City Council voted to require sterilization of cats and dogs 4 months of age and older.

The ordinance, passed 14-1, is meant to help reduce the number of stray animals the city’s shelters have to kill each year. It’s also hoped it will discourage illegal breeding, dogfighting and hoarders.

Los Angeles is the largest municipality in the entire country to adopt such a measure.

Bob Barker, the former “Price is Right” host and vehement animal welfare advocate (remember at the end of every show how he would ask the viewers to please spay and neuter their pets?), is one of the measure’s staunchest supporters.

According the Orange County Register, Barker has spent $35 million of his own personal fortune on U.S. programs that subsidize the spay/neuter surgeries. Imagine how many pets that has taken care of…

For more details, read the Orange County Register’s full story.