Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in German, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Animals definitely have souls. Animals are precious. They are very precious. And a day without an animal is definitely a lost day. Everybody who dedicates themselves to animals has my highest respect.

Hallo, warm-hearted viewers, and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. On today’s program we feature an interview with television host, animal lover, designer and humanitarian Her Highness Princess Maja von Hohenzollern of Germany, who raises awareness about animal cruelty as well as the plight of stray, injured and abandoned animals.

The Princess is an ambassador of the European Animal and Nature Protection Association, one of the largest non-profit animal welfare groups in Europe, and in 2009 she was honored with the European Animal Welfare Award. Her Highness, who currently lives in Spain, has adopted 11 dogs and three cats from the streets and saved the lives of hundreds of other animals.

If I see an animal run over by a car or an injured one or I find one in the garbage can, like I often do, small puppies or small kittens, then of course I do not just walk on by, I take them with me, I rescue them. And so you just get into this work and continue questioning, yes, “Why it is like that?” Actually, it should be a natural thing to treat animals with dignity and with love, that animals do have rights and that they are treated accordingly.

In addition to her rescuing and re-homing efforts, Princess Maja passionately strives to improve the lives of our co-inhabitants by working for the passage of improved animal-welfare laws throughout the European Union. These include a ban on the killing of stray animals, and bringing animals into the classroom to help teach children the importance of compassionate treatment to other beings.

We urgently need laws in the European Union that regulate and safeguard the protection of animals in all countries of the European Union alike. One can see the importance of those laws in the way how striking differently animals are treated in the individual countries. For example, in Germany there are animal shelters that are subsidized quite justifiably in order to keep animals alive.

In Spain, for instance, there are no state-owned animal shelters at all, not a single one. Knowing this you can see how different the opinion in respect to animals is. We urgently need laws that prohibit the killing of stray animals in Europe per se. Besides this we must more effectively implement neutering programs and establish education programs in kindergartens.

I am committed to speak up on the level of the European Parliament, for a law that not only prohibits the killing of stray animals per se, but also promotes neutering programs instead, but above all promotes education measures accordingly, especially with children. In Germany there is an amazing program. In almost every kindergarten there is a kindergarten-rabbit or a guinea-pig who lives in the kindergarten.

And the children care for that animal, touch her, pet her, care for her and thus they learn to treat animals lovingly and with respect. That will shape their future treatment of animals in a sustainable way. So if we could educate children in this manner in a sustainable way, then that would be the best form of animal protection, to educate future generations differently and sustainably. Animal welfare is also teaching humanity.

Her Highness also works to help people understand the need to respect animals at a deeper level.

And I rescue (animals) daily from the streets what I can. That also counts, of course. But at some time we really have to come to a basic solution, that people simply understand from their hearts that animals are part of the creation, that they have a soul, and that people treat them with respect and love, just like they treat children.

Next we’ll meet Carlos, one of the delightful dogs recently rescued by Princess Maja.

I found Carlos two weeks ago on the street in Spain, where he was abandoned. And luckily I have found him. I took him with me and now I have found a new home for him. That is why he is here today. He will become a Swiss. So he goes to Switzerland and has found a new home there. He is a cute, loving dog. I guess he is about seven months old now.

Of course, every time I have to give them away it breaks my heart. That is clear. I very carefully choose the people whom I give those animals and am always in close contact with those people. So I never give away an animal and say, “Out of sight, out of the mind.”

Usually I write and call 50 times during the first two weeks and ask how they are. They send me photos, so actually it is a contract over the years then and in fact in the contract I always reserve my right to take the animal back if due to an illness, an emergency situation the animal has to be given away or has to be given to someone.

Dogs are not the only animals who receive Princess Maja’s love and respect. She also campaigns for the rights of the innocent, helpless animals used as food, such as lobsters and geese.

I also do a campaign with PETA, where I write to all the royal houses in Europe and ask them to withdraw lobster from their royal menus, because lobsters are wonderful animals. They too are “blue-blooded” in a manner of speaking, and they can become 100 years old. There are amazing underwater footages of lobsters that walk hand in hand. They carry their offspring with them nine months, like humans do.

And in view of these findings now I have written to the royal houses and urged them to take lobsters off their menu. Last year we I did this with Prince Charles and because of that he took foie gras off his menu. And now I hope that we can raise the consciousness a bit because they are also role models.

For her noble efforts to improve the lives and well-being of animals, Princess Maja was awarded the 2010 Aachener Animal Welfare Medal by the Germany-based Animal Welfare Association for the City and District of Aachen.

This year’s award winner surely has met the expectations of the Aachener Animal Welfare Medal. Please welcome with me Princess Maja von Hohenzollern!

Could you tell us, what made you award her this recognition?

We wanted to send a signal with this award presentation to strengthen the animal-welfare movement in Spain. It is on a good path, but it is a small plant and indeed needs watering in order to grow into a strong tree. Princess Maja with her work on location down there in Marbella does excellent work. She takes in so many animals, cares for them, tries to bring them to Germany, but that is not the only thing.

She fights for a European animal-welfare law, a thing very few do; they only care for animals, but not for the overall framework conditions or the closure of this animal killing station in Romania, where thousands of animals have died. For us this also was a crucial argument to say Princess Maja will be this candidate, because she is so diverse. She is a powerful fighter for animal protection and that was very important to us.

Princess Maja believes that adopting a vegetarian diet and showing all animals kindness are the most effective ways to bring peace on Earth.

How would you think our planet would look like if people would behave according to the Creator‘s will and not according to their own cravings?

Yes, that would already lead to a great improvement in humans’ relationship with each other. I think, as long as humans do not stop killing animals they will not stop killing themselves. I have the feeling that people more and more make a point of ecological thinking, be it food, be it clothing, be it furniture, be it all other things of their lives. So I have hope. I also see it in the responses that I get, for instance, via Facebook, where I post a lot. People do take notice. I am full of hope that now we are entering a new age of ecology.

Princess Maja believes that animals play an important role on our planet and in many ways are our teachers.

So I am the most convinced that we can learn endlessly from animals. Personally, after all these years, I am again and again so amazed that if I find a dog, for instance, a dog who was confined for years, this dog still manages to wave his tail and come near and to have trust in you. That, for me, is incredible, how gentle they are, how grateful they are. And animals have such a great social competence, from which many humans could learn a great deal.

Princess Maja has one great hope for humanity.

I hope, that people, there are so many people who really love animals, who know how great it is to live with an animal, and that those people also have the courage to stand up for their animals, that they say, “We go against this now! We demand. We take action. And above all that there will be more response from the side of the churches and moreover that there are also politicians who commit themselves to the animals. Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

For her outstanding work that has substantially bettered animal welfare in Europe, Supreme Master Ching Hai is honoring Her Highness Princess Maja von Hohenzollern with the Shining World Hero Award and is offering €10,000, if Her Highness graciously accepts, to support in spirit and further her noble work with all love and gratitude.

Your Highness Princess Maja von Hohenzollern, we applaud your selfless dedication to saving and bettering the lives of our animal co-inhabitants. You are truly a regal being and an inspiring model for us all to follow. May you enjoy great success in your future, noble endeavors.

For more details on Her Highness Princess Maja von Hohenzollern, please visit: www.Prinzessin-von-Hohenzollern.de Connect with her at www.Facebook.com Information about the European Animal and Nature Protection Association is available at www.ETN-EV.de

Thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next on Supreme Master Television is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May all lives be filled with dignity, respect and love.