This Valentine’s Day, we invite you to reflect on the love you carry for animals; whether they live in your home, in the wild, or in sanctuaries around the world.
Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. Everything about the day—hearts, flowers, chocolates, shades of pink, small gifts wrapped in red bows—fills me with so much joy. However, when I think about the “why” behind my love for Valentine’s Day, it’s beyond a heart-shaped box of chocolate or a bouquet of pink roses. At its core, the holiday is really about something deeper: the bonds that shape us, guide us, and remind us of what matters most.
For many of us, those bonds extend far beyond the humans in our lives. They include companion animals who wait for us at the front door, rescued farm animals who teach us kindness, elephants and bears in sanctuaries whose freedom we advocated for, and wild animals who make our world richer and more beautiful.
Animals inspire compassion in a unique and special way, and joining World Animal Protection’s Legacy Society is one of the most meaningful ways to honor that love. We have partnered with FreeWill to make it easier than ever to create your legacy using our free estate planning tool.
When supporters include World Animal Protection in their will, trust, or beneficiary plans, they create a lasting impact, one that protects animals long after Valentine’s Day cards have been recycled and chocolates have been eaten. Unlike the bouquet of pink roses, a legacy gift doesn’t wilt—it grows—shaping a safer and more compassionate world for generations of animals yet to come.
A Lasting Gesture of Love
Legacy gifts allow us to look ahead and move purposefully toward a future where animals are not exploited for entertainment, abused in factory farms, or harmed by destructive industries. Your legacy can help build that future.
Through a gift in your estate plans, you become an integral part of the movement to transform the systems that cause suffering. You help ensure that animals are born into freedom rather than captivity, are valued for who they are and not how profitable they can be, and are protected from cruelty, trafficking, and exploitation.
Many of our supporters share that their legacy gift is a personal expression of who they are. It reflects their values, their compassion, and their hope for the world. It’s a way of saying: I was here, and my love for animals will continue long after I’m gone.
And while legacy giving is deeply meaningful, it’s also incredibly simple. A few powerful decisions today can safeguard animals for decades.
Why Valentine’s Day? Because Love Doesn’t End, It Extends
Valentine’s Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on what we love and how we share it. For people who care deeply about animals, that love is enduring.
By making a legacy gift, you extend that love far into the future. You become part of the story that ensures animals are protected, respected, and safe. Your gift can help create:
- A world where wild animals live free in the wild as nature intended
- A world where elephants and bears are no longer exploited for entertainment
- A world where farmed animals are treated with dignity and spared from cruelty
- A world where future generations inherit a planet where compassion comes first
Your legacy becomes part of the reason these changes are possible.
A Powerful Step Toward a Kinder Tomorrow
We often hear from supporters who say their relationship with animals has shaped their entire life. Those moments we share with the animals we love stay with us. They influence the choices we make, the causes we support, and the world we envision. Legacy giving is a way to honor that lifelong connection. It’s a gesture that says your compassion isn’t limited to the present but stretches into the future.
Including World Animal Protection in your estate plans can be as simple as adding a few sentences to your will or naming us as a beneficiary on a retirement account. We have partnered with FreeWill to make it easier than ever to create your legacy using our free estate planning tool. Filling out the necessary information to create your last will and testament takes only 20 minutes, and it’s 100% free.
This Valentine’s Day, we invite you to reflect on the love you carry for animals; whether they live in your home, in the wild, or in sanctuaries around the world. A legacy gift is one of the most powerful ways to protect that love and ensure it continues to make a difference.
If you have already included a gift in your estate plans to benefit the future of World Animal Protection, be sure to let us know so that we may best honor your wishes.