Animal Testing: The Sacrifice Animals Make For Humans

"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body."  This famous and extremely respected quote by Mahatma Gandhi reveals his compassion for the innocent lives of animals.  

Animals suffer because of human need, greed, consumption, and cruelty.  Sadly, many are used, abused, tortured and killed for the sake of many unnecessary human products including cosmetics, furs, and handbags.  The amount of companies that still use animals for experimentation and lab research are astounding.  And for what purposes?  Many times creatures are put through torturous experiments that contribute no relevant findings, and in turn benefit no one.  Many animals die for absolutely no scientific results what-so-ever. 

The group, In Defense of Animals, has a fact list of many sick treatments lab animals have to endure.  These experiments include, ". . .the Draize test, caustic substances are placed in the eyes of conscious rabbits. . . it is extremely painful for the rabbits, who often scream when the substances are applied and sometimes break their necks or backs trying to escape. . ."  Other tests include lethal doses of poison being forced through stomach tubes into innocent animals.  Doses are administered until half of the study group of animals die.  Many of the lab animals endure vomiting, paralysis, seizures, and bleeding through eyes, nose, mouth and/or rectum.  These practices are inhumane, cruel and simply evil.  The In Defense of Animals group has a link to humane companies that do not kill innocent beings.  

Alex, the author on vidacompassion.org has a list of companies that use animals in experimentation, animals for fur, or companies that may be questionable.  She has done a great job updating the list and keeping it current over the last ten years.  Alex also has links to animal friendly companies, consumer tips, animal advocate resources and much more.  She should be praised for her realistic viewpoint regarding the halt of animal testing.  Although as animal advocates, we would love to see an end to the unnecessary torture and killing of innocent animals, Alex announces that realistically companies that commit these acts are money making businesses.  They each have multitudes of fans, followers, and eager spending consumers.  Her solution which I agree with, is to do what we can as animal advocates  and not support inhumane or cruel laboratory/experimentation practices.  It is encouraged as Alex says, to not spend on money on their products and to spread the word to others as well.  

With advanced technology there is no reason for innocent animals to live short lives in small laboratory prison cages.  There are many successful companies that have humane practices in effect for testing their products appropriately, where animals are not exposed to the cruelty of a hellish lab.  This is an animal friendly company list that anyone can be proud to be a consumer of. 

WARNING: The following video is graphic in nature and may be disturbing to viewers, but reveals the truth of what is happening to innocent animals in labs.

"Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission--to be of service to them whenever they require it... If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."
        --Saint Francis of Assisi (mystic and preacher)

MAKE UP

McCartney Family Showing How Celebs Care for Critters

Celebrities may be idolized for amazing fashion sense, fantastic artistic talent, beauty and stature, athletic abilities, or maybe even nothing at all.  Celebrities receive honors, glory, fame, not to mention perks and privileges.  Luckily for animals, many celebrities that we have come to know and love, have advocated for the rights of critters everywhere.  Some celebrities that deserve praise are: Alicia Silverstone, a vegan who came out with a cookbook to support the lives of animals; Hilary Swank who started a foundation to help stray dogs outside the US; Pierce Brosnan who supports spaying and neutering to prevent pet overpopulation; and others like Ron Artest, Dave Navarro, Betty White, Steve-O and on.  The list of people who want to help animals worldwide are endless.

One popular celebrity that has done so much for animals is Paul McCartney.  Doris Lin discusses Paul's contributions and his fight for animal rights.   on the Animal Rights section of About.com.  The article touches upon McCartney's continuous support and gets right to the point of his amazing compassion for animals.  Lin states clearly McCartney's contributions, links to other articles pertaining to the McCartney family, and sheds light on an incredible animal advocate. Laura Sinpetru also discusses the positive influence Paul brings with his support against animal cruelty in her article Paul Becomes an Advocate For Animal Rights on Softpedia.com.  I can agree with Sinpetru that a huge celebrity like a former Beatle McCartney can be a huge advantage in driving many individuals to pursue a cruelty free lifestyle.  With his popularity among multiple people and generations, it allows for awareness about animal rights to be more in the spotlight.

Another McCartney that has spoken out for animal rights is Stella.  She is considered an amazing designer in the fashion world and has achieved success without harming animals.  I can agree with Doris Lin's article on About.com where the phrase "Go Stella!" is used.  Some fashion enthusiasts may not be keen on the products Stella supports and designs, but from an advocate standpoint, it's great to know she is anti-fur and anti-hunting.  Fashion can still be successful without torturing an animal.  As the Beatles sang, maybe we can all ". . . give peace a chance."

MAKE UP

Adopt-a-Pet Thursday

When you are thinking about adopting a pet, you probably thinks cats or dog. But did you knew that you can adopt pets like pigs? Lulu is one of the pig looking for a loving family. 

Lulu is one calm and loving pig. She is well trained, but her owner was not able to take care of her anymore because of her divorce. So, she has no other choice than putting her in adoption.

She is learning to walk with a harness and is in really good health. 

If you are interested to adopt her and will love her forever, you can contact the adoption center and someone will get in touch with you right after. 

“No Animals Were Harmed”

Since the beginning of cinema, animals are involved in movies. You may have seen the “No animals were harmed in the making of this movie” notice in the end. Is it really the case?

Unfortunately, since animals are involve in the making of movies, some are badly hurt, or even worst, killed. This is why you should be careful about the films that you encourage by watching them at cinema or buying the DVD.

The Early 1900’s

Of course, when we think about harmed animals in movies, we think it happened long time ago. In the early 1900’s, a lot of movie animal were killed will filming movies. Some were shot dead; some others drowned or were electrocuted.

One of the most known cases of animal abuse in a movie is Electrocuting An Elephant from Thomas Edison. The title says it all; Toopsy, a circus elephant, is electrocuted in the movie. People at the circus noticed that she was attacking more people after her trainer tried to feed her with lit cigarette, so they executed her.  

You can now watch the sad movie on internet. The quality is not good, but it is not necessarily easy to watch.

Since then, plenty of movies like Ben-Hur (1925), Land Without Bread (1933) Stagecoach (1939) and Jesse James (1939) harmed animals. Sadly, the abuse was not over with those movies.

And now?

As we saw, it happened at some occasions in the early years of cinema and television. You may think those behaviors are behind us. It is not exactly the case. Not only animals were harmed badly in some movies of the 90’s, but even this year, in 2012. We may think that human evolved enough to not make movie animals suffer, but apparently not.

When we are thinking about animal abuse in movie, we certainly not think about child movies. According to Yahoo! Movies, Snow Buddies, a movie from Dysney released in 2008, was lethal not only for one puppy, but five. The production used too young puppies for the movies and they died from contracting parvovirus.

The case of The Hobbit

The future blockbuster movie The Hobbit is pointed by some organizations. During the shooting of the film, many animals have died. Horses, chickens, sheep and goat died from injuries. PETA is claiming they will protest during the premiere to report the bad treatment. The organization claimed director Peter Jackson should have use animated animals instead of hurting real ones on the set.

What can you do?

When you are going watch a film or a TV show, make sure that no animals were harmed for real. You can visit the website of the American Humane Association. The group rates every movie that it is allowed on set. You can find those rates on the website and get prepare to be surprise by some films.

No Merry Christmas for the Reindeers

With Christmas coming in about a month, some people have already started their gifts shopping, their Christmas tree decoration and all the preparations for the family parties. But it also means that the Christmas parades and farms are around the corner, which is not good news for the reindeer.

While you are enjoying the show, you probably don’t think about the treatment that those poor reindeer have to deal with just to please humans. In Britain more specifically, Red-Nosed Reindeer and his friends are not well feed and they are kept in unsuitable conditions.

Reindeer are wild animal. Being removed from their cold and quiet natural environment to be place in mall farm is not normal and can be really stressful. Like in the Christmas parade, there are hundreds of people screaming and running everywhere close to the animals.

This stressful experience can does serious damage to their health. According to VeterinaryLaboratories Agency, it could be the reason of the increasing amount of death of the young reindeers during the last years.

The website Animal Aid suggests boycotting the events that use those poor reindeer just for the amusement of humans and even complaint. You can also order their leaflet and pass the message to your family and friends.

Keep that in mind next time you will see reindeer participate to Christmas events. Here is a short clip that shows where reindeer should be.

Ban Leg and Paw Traps: Stop Animal Suffering

     Hunting and trapping are necessities in life, so some may say.  But I really do not feel it is necessary to put an animal through suffering so someone can add to their fur coat collection.  Many may argue that animals come onto residential properties and violate space.  Often, outdoor pets may get in fights or attacked.  Trash cans and other property may be tampered with.  But can we really blame the animals?  With human overpopulation and widespread home building, more and more animals are losing their own habitats, food sources and safe havens.  Where are they to go?  Some think, a trap!
     In Donnie MacLeod's article," Dissecting the anti-trapping animal rights (AR) cover letter," on WildAboutTrapping.com, he provides a barbaric response to valid arguments animal rights groups have made.  His concern for holding onto inhumane practices is revealed in his broad accusations against animal lovers.  
     The Department of Natural Resources in the state of Wisconsin has an article regarding hunting and trapping that is an easier read for extreme animal lovers like myself.  The weekly news article discusses regulations, rules and restrictions that individuals are expected to follow.  The department also supports efforts to follow guidelines associated with trapping animals humanely.  
     I can understand that certain areas people may need to hunt for survival methods, or choose to have an animal trapped to relocate somewhere else.  But with every issue, respect should be shown.  If a deer is shot for consumption, use each piece, follow laws and rules, and realize it was a living being.  And if people like Donnie MacLeod want to use inhumane paw or leg traps, because animals, ". . . have more padding with thick fur. . ." therefore do not feel pain, then stricter regulations need to be in effect so he can see the consequences and inhumane practices that are derived from such inconsiderate ideals.  Animals are living, breathing, feeling beings that deserve respect.  Despite opposition from enthusiastic trappers, animals should have animal advocates speaking up for them, asking for reasonable changes to provide better practices for the animals and wildlife that help many of us.

Resources:
"Dissecting the anti-trapping animal rights (AR) cover", Donnie MacLeod, Wildabouttrapping.com

"Furbearer hunting, trapping seasons begin to open Oct. 20", Weekly News Article, dnr.wi.gov

Seaworld: Slavery, Salvation or So What?

     When one thinks of Sea World, they may imagine an exciting entertainment environment including sea life, shows, rides and wild animal interaction.  There are a variety of feelings that are associated with theme parks such as Sea World, pertaining to its practices of holding wild animals in captivity. Some in support of Sea World's practices may argue that education, conservation and research are critical goals that take priority.  Others opposed to the idea of wild animals in captivity feel many of these animals are taken violently from their families in the wild, are not offered stimulation, are used for consumer amusement, and are not treated as well as they should be.  Then there is a third group, one that has no clear position on the issue of holding animals like whales and dolphins in captivity.  Many of these undecided individuals see the animals rights issue not entirely relevant to their lives, and would not be swayed to stop attending or supporting theme parks like Sea World.
     Some viewpoints may seem a little harsh or drastic, such as PETA, or People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals.  In the Los Angeles Times section, L.A. Now, the article, "Animal rights group's suit to allege Sea World keeping orcas in slavery," describes a suit against Sea World claiming that the whales' 13th amendment rights are being violated.  PETA states the 13th amendment does not clarify if animals are excluded.  While the suit calls for the release of whales currently being held in captivity, and that I feel Sea World should no longer keep large, wild animals in tight quarters with no stimulation, I do feel that referring to orcas as slaves may be seen as offensive and over-the-top, limiting understanding among civilians.  This may diminish support for the activists' fight, invalidating their efforts.  Great heart, wrong way to go.
     Jason Garcia with the Orlando Sentinel wrote about the SeaWorld Orlando captivity polls.  He describes how a study was done asking people how they felt about whales and dolphins in captivity.  This study led to findings of people with strong views opposed to captive animals, strong views supporting captive animals, and a group of people that had no strong opinion at all.  It was a good effort to obtain information from citizens to get a better idea of this animal rights issue.  A positive about it is that regardless of how people answered, at least the study shed light on the topic gaining newspaper coverage and striking up new conversation about wild animals in captivity.
     Regardless of where one stands on the issue of wild animals in captivity, it is important to see the situation from an animal's point of view.  Hopefully one can ask themself, "what is the best case scenario for this animal?"  With compromise, community awareness, education, and humane animal treatment as a necessity, theme parks such as Sea World can be depicted as a place for entertainment, and a place that supports humane standards and respect to animals and wildlife, and not see them as money makers.

Resources:
"Animal groups, marine parks release competing captivity polls," Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel.
"Animal rights group's suit to allege Sea World keeping orcas in slavery", L.A. Now, L.A. Times.