by: Brittany Schaefer
Posted: Jun 8, 2024 / 11:34 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 8, 2024 / 11:34 PM EDT

NEWTOWN, Conn. (WTNH) – Thousands of people came out to a family fun, animal-filled festival in Newtown Saturday. It was a day to show love to all animals to celebrate the 18th birthday of a girl who is forever six.

“Catherine loved every single animal. She loved bugs and insects and creatures. She didn’t discriminate, she just wanted to make sure animals in her care knew that she was kind and that they’d be safe,” said Jenny Hubbard, the mother of Catherine Violet Hubbard. 

Hubbard was killed in 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, but her legacy lives on exemplifying the bond between humans and animals at her animal sanctuary. The festival there showcased puppies, parrots, possums, but the focal point, flying high, were Catherine Butterflies.

The North American Butterfly Association renamed the Monarch to the Catherine Butterfly for the day in her honor, something her mother said makes her heart flutter.

“I loved seeing her when she could gather a butterfly in her midst. Just the symbolic meaning behind the butterfly and transformation. Catherine now being a part of the creatures she loved so much, it really is humbling,” said Hubbard.

Among the thousands of people at the birthday party, were also 31 animal rescue groups with over 250 animals up for adoptions, conservation groups, animal educators, local artisans and vendors.

Lucky Dog Refuge out of Stamford had at least one adoption, a dog named Charlie Brown. 

“Some of these dogs have been through a lot in their short lives and to just have their home and bright futures ahead of them means the world to us,” said Lucky Dog Refuge’s Samantha Rumore. 

Animal rescue groups said living like Catherine, showing empathy for even the smallest of creatures, proved the six-year-old was kind well beyond her years.

“When it’s a child that has such love and care for animals, it catches your attention so much more and it makes it very meaningful and that’s why this event is so important,” said Nancy Abohatab of Connecticut Parrot Rescue.

“Bring these dogs a new life and new future, I think she would be so happy. We wish she was here,” Rumore said.