Issues - Cruelty-Free Living

ISSUES

CRUELTY-FREE LIVING

A Guide to Cruelty-Free Living
“The question is not, ‘Can they reason?' Nor, ‘Can they talk?' But rather, ‘Can they suffer?”'
– Jeremy Bentham

From young, we are taught how we are different from animals, rather than what we have in common with them. So most of us grow up accepting the idea that animals are to be exploited and used for our own ends.

We deny that animals have their own feelings, emotions, individual personalities and family relationships, despite it being very evident that they do. We have set up a society in which animal exploitation has become the norm.

So a lot of what we do in our individual lives causes enormous suffering for the creatures that share our planet. For the sake of a dish, a detergent, a handbag or a laugh, many animals are denied even their basic needs - to move, scratch, eat, drink, play, run, feel the sun or nurture their young. For human convenience, profit and pleasure, they are imprisoned, chained, beaten, branded, scarred, electrocuted, starved, tortured, mutilated, castrated, knifed and shot.

Because most of this cruelty happens behind the closed doors of slaughterhouses, factories, research institutions and organisations, we tend to think we are not directly responsible. But we are. As the final consumers, the people who create the demand and pay for the fruits of animal exploitation, we are very much responsible.

But we can choose not to be. All of us have within ourselves the ability to relate to other living things with compassion. We can choose to be kind instead of cruel. We can choose to be non-violent. And we can make cruelty-free choices about what we eat, wear, do and buy that will make a positive impact not only on animals but on people, the environment and our own health too.

Read on to find out how you can make compassionate choices in your everyday life and lead a cruelty-free lifestyle...


			ISSUES CRUELTY-FREE LIVING A Guide to Cruelty-Free Living “The question is not, ‘Can they reason?' Nor, ‘Can they talk?' But rather, ‘Can they suffer?”' – Jeremy Bentham From young, we are taught how we are different from animals, rather than what we have in common with them. So most of us grow up accepting the idea that animals are to be exploited and used for our own ends. We deny that animals have their own feelings, emotions, individual personalities and family relationships, despite it being very evident that they do. We have set up a society in which animal exploitation has become the norm. So a lot of what we do in our individual lives causes enormous suffering for the creatures that share our planet. For the sake of a dish, a detergent, a handbag or a laugh, many animals are denied even their basic needs - to move, scratch, eat, drink, play, run, feel the sun or nurture their young. For human convenience, profit and pleasure, they are imprisoned, chained, beaten, branded, scarred, electrocuted, starved, tortured, mutilated, castrated, knifed and shot. Because most of this cruelty happens behind the closed doors of slaughterhouses, factories, research institutions and organisations, we tend to think we are not directly responsible. But we are. As the final consumers, the people who create the demand and pay for the fruits of animal exploitation, we are very much responsible. But we can choose not to be. All of us have within ourselves the ability to relate to other living things with compassion. We can choose to be kind instead of cruel. We can choose to be non-violent. And we can make cruelty-free choices about what we eat, wear, do and buy that will make a positive impact not only on animals but on people, the environment and our own health too. Read on to find out how you can make compassionate choices in your everyday life and lead a cruelty-free lifestyle...
										As animals cannot speak up for themselves, it is up to humans to give them a voice, speak up their behalf and end their abuse. more





			List of web resources: Find out more about all forms of animal exploitation and what you can do about them as a caring consumer. Animal Aid: http://www.animalaid.org.uk Asian Animal Protection Network (AAPN): http://www.aapn.org Humane Society International Asia : http://www.hsiasia.org People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals: http://peta-online.org Factsheets on all animal issues: http://www.peta.org/mc/facts.asp World Society for the Protection of Animals: http://wspa-international.org Information on products made without animal ingredients or animal testing: http://www.animalfreezone.co.uk/home.htm Recommended Animal Liberation – Peter Singer You Can Save The Animals: 251 Ways To Stop Thoughtless Cruelty – Ingrid Newkirk And Bill Manher Animal Welfare – Colin Spedding The Pig Who Sang To The Moon: The Emotional World Of Farm Animals – Jeffrey Masson The Case For Animal Rights – Tom Regan Vega: The New Ethics Of Eating – Erik Marcus The Vegan Sourcebook – Joanne Stepaniak Chinese Vegetarian Cookery – Jack Santa Maria And Kate Simunek Animal Experimentation: A Harvest Of Shame – Melody Macdonald Milk: The Deadly Poison – Robert Cohen And Jane Heimlich Rattling The Cage: Toward Legal Rights For Animals – Steven M. Wise And Jane Goodall The Dreaded Comparison: Human And Animal Slavery – Marjorie Spiegel And Alice Walker Animals And Why They Matter – Mary Midgley Beyond Beef: The Rise And Fall Of The Cattle Culture – Jeremy Rifkin Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look At The Modern Poultry Industry – Karen Davis Animal Ingredients A To Z – E. G. Smith Collective (Compiler), E.G. Smith How Are We To Live? Ethics In An Age Of Self-Interest – Peter Singer “Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.” – Thomas A. Edison top ............................................................................................................................................................