This is a personal extra so thank-you for viewing this page.
My whole philosophy is around cruelty free living – starting with being cruelty free to ourselves, to others, to animals & the earth.
I believe if you prioritise being C/F to yourself the rest will naturally follow, although you can still be C/F to all while you heal.
The biggest harm for me is animal abuse – which is why I am vegan as it is the only way to ensure animals are not abused. I also oppose hunting and will not use products tested on animals – which really are products that unnecessarily abuse animals in the making.
I recommend you do your research and decide for yourself on facts, not assumptions.
I am also very aware that when stressed or traumatised, or you grew up believing a certain way is correct, it can be hard to change. Be gentle and if ready read the rest of this & decide for yourself.
But on a practical note – there is absolutely no reason to buy products tested on animals – I’m talking about make-up, toiletries, household & DIY products etc. There are lots at all price points that do not use animal abuse so the companies that do do so for no reason. (They often say they only test where required by law (in China) which is worse as they are saying they only abuse animals for profit)
When you buy – check the back for the leaping bunny logo, or another sign that it isn’t tested on animals. (also be aware that being vegan is different, a product can have animal parts in it but not tested on animals, or be vegan and tested on animals)
Or what I do – google a company name and ‘cruelty free’ and you will find sites that tell you.
Lots of the big companies are cruelty free now, but sadly a lot still abuse animals. Avoid them, or accept you support unnecessary abuse.
Cruelty free international homepage | Cruelty Free International
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals | Animal Rights in the UK (peta.org.uk)
Good On You – Sustainable and Ethical Fashion Brand Ratings
Facts not assumptions (research for yourself & decide what you believe is true):
- It’s expensive – nope. We are talking about vegetables here 🙂 you can buy cheap at the market.. but there are also lots of cheap ready meals too.
- Unhealthy – nope. Of course things like chip butties are vegan so if you lived on them you wouldn’t get all the right nutrients but that can apply to an unhealthy meat diet too! All these headlines about vegan diet not right for everyone is when people do not eat right. And it is very easy to get enough protein without meat or dairy – there are lots of top athletes who are vegan – google it!
- You love the taste of… – well yes that can be hard but not a reason really. If what you like causes suffering you can choose other things you like, or choose to cause suffering, and there are so many good meat & dairy alternatives you can still get the taste if want.
- We are meant to…hmm, research a cavemen diet, even with meat (that was caught wild with no cruelty) they ate less of it than we do.
- Dairy – there was an advert that said dairy was cruel & the makers were taken to court by the dairy industry. They lost as they couldn’t prove dairy wasn’t cruel. Forcing a cow to be constantly pregnant is not natural, and (according to countryfile) a lot of male calves are killed straight away as have no use – forced to be pregnant & calf killed – that’s at the kindest farms. I am open to any farmer who does farm dairy in a less cruel & more natural way selling that, but the industry needs to stop the big abusive dairy farms as they are doing harm to their image. (plus we are not meant to drink another animals milk)
- Leather/ wool – these are not by-products anymore. Leather (& suede & fur) are farmed, where animals are kept in horrendous conditions as we want to buy the end product cheaply. The workers are paid so low they cannot treat the animals they are about to skin in a safe way as they need to work so fast to make a living. Just so you can buy cheap leather. Wool is often sheared in a harmful way for cheap wool too – at the least know where it comes from, a lot of companies are transparent about this now.
- Hunting – I used to work with horses that were used to hunt so I know all about the tradition & pageantry but that isn’t the full picture & hides all the cruelty behind it. The capturing & throwing live foxes to the dogs to feed the hunting instinct, starving the dogs too then killing them if can’t hunt well enough. The blocking fox holes so the foxes cannot escape (then feeling proud you can hunt?). Not to mention all the other animals they harm in the hunt. If the only way you know how to have fun is to harm others, just think what that says about your behaviour? Same with trophy hunting – where someone feels oh so powerful cos they shot a drugged rare animal in an enclosed area. Wow, very brave 🙂
All I ask is you make an informed choice….