1. All kinds of animals rights activist groups hate companies that make coats, shoes, belts, etc. out of animal fur and hide. This is because these companies kill animals and only use them for their fur. I'm here to say that, yes, this is wrong, but we could change it to make it right. If only there were some kind of set up where we could send our animals that we've just killed for meat over to these fur companies, then the companies could use fur from already-dead animals, and extra animals would not be killed for fur. We should use animals for everything they're worth, but we shouldn't kill animals for the purpose of meat alone, then turned around and kill more animals for their fur alone, and then turn around and kill more for their bones alone. If these different companies would communicate with each other and work together, I would totally be on board with using animal fur and hide for clothing, as well as using their bones for tools and whatever else they can be used for.
2. It's time we get rid of animal testing. It's insane that some companies still test on animals. All kinds of research labs test on them. And all kinds of animals die or are severely harmed by animal testing. I know it seems like they are the best source to use for this, and that we need to test our products before we use them. I also know that we need to test medicines before we give them to people, etc. However, there are all kinds of places that pay people to let them test these products on them. There are people out there who will undergo testing for money. I know many companies might ask where they would get enough money to pay these people for the use of their bodies, but if you don't have enough money for that, maybe you shouldn't be trying to bring about a new product in the first place. Plus these places are given all kinds of funding by the government. And the point is, animals are not just here for our personal use - like slaves to be bred for death. They have rights too. Or at least they should. So here's my idea: Maybe we could find prisoners who have been convicted of crimes like rape, child molestation, murder, etc., and we could offer them a lighter sentence if they let companies test on them. Or we could offer to allow them more privileges in the prison if they comply and allow companies to test on them. Like prisons could allow them to have a tv in their cell if they do some testing every week. I don't think that's too much to ask. They would have a choice in the matter. And we can't ignore the animal testing problem. You can go to this website for a list of some companies that test on animals: http://www.thevegetariansite.com/ethics_test.htm. They update it often. If your products don't explicitly say "Not tested on animals," you can bet your soul they test on animals. They would absolutely want to flaunt that they don't test on animals if they didn't, in fact, test on animals. Thankfully, Bath & Body Works does not buy from companies that test on animals, so you're safe buying products from them. If you're not sure whether or not your bath product company is testing on animals, call them! They're obligated to tell you the truth, so I would hope they would.
3. I've taken a bunch of biology classes for my major, so I took a biology lab last summer. For one of the labs, I had to take these tiny animals called Daphnia Magna, and I had to paste them to a petri dish with vasoline, and then I had to put them under a microscope and puts drops of caffeine on them. I had to measure their heartrates before and after the caffeine was added. I essentially drowned those Daphnia Magna in vasoline and induced heart attacks in them - all for the sake of an experiment that the professor already knew the outcome of. In another lab, we drew lines on paper with different kinds of ink and then allowed termites to follow the lines. Different kinds of ink gave off different chemicals, and the termites were attracted to some of those chemicals, so they followed some of the lines perfectly, even though termites are blind. It was interesting, but one of my classmates tried to kill the termites when she was done with them. I was so glad that several of my classmates were just like me and got onto her for doing that. But the point is, animals are used for education purposes, and there are people out there who do not respect them - even if they are insects. There is no reason to harm them when it's not necessary. And those poor Daphnia Magna were drowned in vasoline and had to undergo heart attacks! That's horrible! What else can we use to educate people? Computer simulations? The only problem I have with this is that people who are in medical school to become vets really need to work on real animals before they go into the field and are forced to do so. However, maybe they could work on actual animals that need actual surgeries and such, rather than just forcing some animal to go into a heart attack so you can check how caffeine affects its heart rate. By the way, I think it's a given that caffeine will increase any animal's heart rate. We don't need experiments for that.
4. Lots of zoos and aquariums do not take proper care of their animals and let people get too close. I went to one zoo in Pine Mountain, Georgia, where a 16-year-old idiot in my group threw rock-hard food at the animals' faces, and the zoo workers just let it happen. That's ridiculous. People should only be allowed around zoo animals for education purposes and research, and they should be in a controlled environment, where the animals' wellbeings are kept in mind. Furthermore, we should not just have zoos to have zoos. We shouldn't keep animals locked in cages unless they can not survive in the wild on their own. Rehabilitation centers, not zoos!
5. I implore everyone to stop going to breeders, and I implore breeders to cut it out with the animal baby-making. There are so many incredible animals on death row at pounds and even humane societies, and they need homes. They are perfectly good animals that would make perfectly good pets, and they don't deserve to die, simply because the place where they are staying doesn't have room for them anymore. I have seen so many amazing animals that are rescues, including the one I'm dog-sitting for right at this very moment. She's the sweetest dog, and if her mom hadn't saved her, she would be dead right now. So why are we bringing a bunch of new animals into the world world while perfectly good, already-living animals die in pounds, unloved and alone? Furthermore, the world needs to adopt a "No Kill" law/requirement. There are plenty of "No Kill" shelters out there, and they operate just fine. We need to expand these and make it against the law to kill perfectly good animals. I know what you're thinking: "That takes funding we don't have." First off, we have funding for all kinds of useless crap, and we over-fund all kinds of unnecessary things, so I'm sure we could muster up the money. Second, there's really no need for funding, because if a shelter needs to kill some animals in order to make space for more, why not simply waive the adoption fee and give away the death row animals for free? I'm sure they'd get adopted fast! I'm sure the reason they don't do it is because that would ruin their business, as people would simply wait for animals to become free to adopt, rather than adopt any animals for money. Oh well! Besides, I really don't that would necessarily happen. I think people would adopt the animal they fell in love with upon meeting it, whether that animal cost money or not. Also, if you want to rescue an animal, check out the older animals too, not just the babies. First off, the older ones die first, and no one ever wants them. Second off, they are already trained! You don't realize how difficult it is to take care of and train a puppy until you're doing it, so think about lightening the burden on yourself and picking an older dog - not necessarily an OLD dog, but one that's not a puppy. They need love and homes too.
6. Finally, we need to stop taking in wild animals as pets. Stop buying fish, bunnies, snakes, rodents, etc. from the pet store. Those animals need to be in the wild. It's where they belong. Animals are not for human enjoyment purposes. They should not be cooped up in tiny cages and tanks their whole lives. Honestly, pet stores are just a big group of people who got together one day and decided to exploit animals for their own money-making purposes. Capitalism at it's finest. You see an easy target, and you take it as your own, package it, and sell it, even if it's not yours to take or sell. They prey on the weak and helpless - the ones that can't get consent nor fight against them. To top it all off, animals that live in captivity don't live near as long as they do in the wild. Too many pet owners neglect their animals, simply don't know how to properly take care of them, and let them die. I know a girl who adopted a pet snake, and that snake didn't even live to be a teenager, because this girl didn't keep the tank warm enough, so the snake literally froze to death within its own body. Cats and dogs are domesticated, so they need caretakers to take them in. Also, they have entire houses and backyards and sometimes more to roam around freely in. So if you want a pet, go rescue a dog or a cat! That is ideal.
7. Don't give your money to places that use animals as pointless entertainment. By this, I don't mean farms and ranches that use their animals to help them do their farming, go horse-back riding, and utilize animals for a mutually beneficient practice that is perfectly humane, where the animals are properly cared for and allowed to roam free in large, open spaces. What I'm referring to are those big snakes and rats that are kept in tanks for people to pay money and stick their ugly noses in on them at fairs. I'm talking about zoos that are not rehabilitation centers, but purely house perfectly healthy animals that should be living in the wild. I"m referring to those Mary-Go-Rounds with real ponies that people have at fall festivals, other fall events, and pumpkin patches for children to ride and have their pictures taken. I'm talking about circuses and other shows that utilize animals for nothing other than entertainment purposes - places that use animals simply for entertainment and no other purpose, pointlessly keeping a perfectly healthy animal from living freely in its natural habitat and, instead, forcing it to live in a tiny cage, be toated all over the place, become depressed, be enslaved to do its master's bidding for the rest of its life, and be abused. Don't fund these horrible people and places. Use your better judgement to know if what you see involving animals is humane and fine. Animals that look happy are happy. Animals that look sad are sad. A horse being ridden is generally happy to be able to run around and spend time with human friends. A pony spinning around in circles all day with dirty children hanging off of it, pulling its hair, getting bodily fluids all over it, poking it, and screaming in its ear is generally not a very happy animal. That's pointless entertainment, and the pony has no benefits from that. There are plenty of other ways to entertain a child. Use your judgement, and don't fund anything that is torturous or abusive to animals. These things are, unfortunately, everywhere, even though they should be against the law. If you don't fund these things, you have a hand in shutting them down. Because that's what happens when a place doesn't get business - it gets shut down. Furthermore, push for change. Push for laws to make the torture and abuse of animals illegal.
This is what Daphnia Magna look like. You can see their hearts through their transparent bodies, so it's easy to measure their heart rates through a microscope.
I'm not saying we should stop buying these products. We just need to change the system. Even in this country, torture is around every corner. It's insanity.
Just a tiny taste of what goes on in animal testing labs. You would be shocked to find out just how many labs do this and how many companies sell you these products. And I'm using the least shocking of the photos I've found. Go google "animal testing," and see all the crazy, disturbing pictures that pop up.
To top it all off, animal testing isn't even effective!!!
They are actually kept in boxes like these very often.
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