For The Animals
Every year in the UK, nearly 1,000 million animals are mass-produced and killed for food. Most are reared in intensive factory units. Animals are given the bare minimum to survive to keep costs down. Many are kept in cramped, filthy conditions and given growth inducing hormones so they end up so large that they are barely able to walk.
Animal Aid recently undertook an undercover investigation into five of the highest acclaimed free range farms and found animals diseased and dying, crammed into dirty sheds and often unable to reach food or water. In the slaughterhouse, undercover investigations have revealed animals being kicked and punched and babies being killed in front of their mums, sometimes whilst suckling. If the stun gun is set too high, this bruises the animals and ruins their meat so it is kept low even if this means the animal isn’t properly unconscious when they’re slaughtered.
Milk
Cows, like humans, only produce milk following a pregnancy. Once cows have given birth, the calf is then taken away. Cows and their calves form strong bonds and the separation causes them both a lot of stress. If the calf is male, he will be killed immediately as dairy cattle can’t be used for beef. However, sometimes they are raised for veal.
Eggs
Male chicks are also of no use to the egg industry and if they have come from laying hens, can’t be used for meat as they don’t produce enough meat to make it profitable to keep them alive. These unfortunate chicks are disposed of by gas or being placed in a shredding machine.
As fishing increases, fish numbers are dwindling fast. The seine nets used to catch these fish, trail for miles of the sea entangling animals such as dolphins, whales and turtles.
For Ending World Hunger
Did you know there is enough food to feed the world? Hard to believe when more than a billion people are going hungry. A lot of this is due to meat. The grain that could be used to feed people is instead used to feed animals. Be-cause animals need protein to help maintain lots of inedible body parts such as horns, eyes, hooves etc, in the end it takes 16 pounds of grain to create just one pound of edible flesh. In fact, the amount of veg protein fed to the US beef herd would feed almost the entire populations of India and China; that’s two billion people. The amount of grain needed to end extreme hunger is 40 million tonnes. Yet the amount of grain fed to animals in the West is 540 million tonnes. If we all went vegetarian, we could end world hunger overnight.
For The Environment
Farming livestock is bad for the environment for many reasons. Once land has been used for livestock, it often can’t be used again. In fact, deserts spread every year by an area the size of England and Scotland. Livestock grazing is the main cause. Farming livestock also uses more water than vegetables. On irrigated land, 1lb of vegetables uses 25 gallon whereas 1lb of beef uses 5,214 gallons. Rain forests are still being felled to graze hamburger cattle. Going vegan saves one acre of forest every year. Farmed animals rank second in causing global warming due to the methane they produce. You can make a huge difference by becoming vegetarian/ vegan or consuming less animal based products.
Going For It!
A vegan diet or cutting down on how much meat, fish, eggs and milk you consume, would help ensure less animals are made to suffer on farms. Meat, milk and eggs make up a substantial amount of most of our diets but there are steadily becoming more vegan alternatives available in most health food shops and online. There are also many foods that people wouldn’t expect were vegan such as apple pies, strudels, many varieties of biscuits and many different crisps. There are also lots of tasty vegan recipes and information about where to get vegan alternatives on the Vegan Society website.
Surprisingly Vegan Snacks
Although by cooking you can usually eat vegan food fairly cheaply, it’s tough if you’re not a natural cook! Unfortunately, vegan treats and ready to eat meals can be expensive as they’re not mass produced. However, there are some treats that you may be surprised to know are vegan and you can usually get them for pretty cheap!
Chocolate - Lots of health food shops such as Holland and Barrett sell vegan ice cream (which isn’t much more than dairy ice cream and tastes great!), vegan chocolate and you can get many dairy free chocolate products from your local supermarket in their free-from range. Most bourbon creams are actually vegan at as little as 40p a pack and Ruffles, most mint thins and Oreos are also vegan. Cocoa powder is vegan and can make you a lovely warm chocolatey drink. Also, most dark chocolate has no dairy in it! If it’s too bitter for you, try melting it with some soya milk and sugar before pouring it on whatever you fancy. It’s particularly nice on chopped banana!
Cheese - there are many dairy free cheeses available from health food shops such as Holland and Barrett but they taste best melted onto or into food. To really sort your cheese pangs, try vegan cream cheese with garlic and herbs (also available from health food shops).
Milk – soya and rice milk is now sold for a reasonable price in most super-markets.
Eggs – egg replacement powder, egg free mayonnaise and tofu for scram-bled egg.
Sweet cravings - many sweet things contain dairy and eggs. So, if you don’t want to buy the more expensive vegan alternatives, you’ll be pleased to know many jam tarts bakewell tarts, apple pies and strudels are vegan.
Or…
Buy less meat, eggs and milk and opt for organic or free-range where possible.
17. Use Cruelty Free Cosmetics And Household Products
Sadly, many animals are still tested on for cosmetics and cleaning products when they don’t have to be. These animals aren‘t anaesthetised or given any pain killers. Animals sometimes break their necks or backs attempting to escape the pain.
Testing on animals for cosmetics has thankfully been made illegal in Eu-rope. However, many companies including the well-known Max Factor and L’Oreal, have their products tested on animals abroad and then exported to Europe.
Many household cleaning products are also still tested on animals when they don’t need to be. There are plenty of ingredients that don’t need to be tested on animals as they have already proven safe. However, many companies want new ingredients in their cleaning products and because they’re new, they have to be tested on animals. This is all so that they can say that their product is ‘new and improved’.
Log onto www.crueltyfree.org to find out where you can buy cruelty free cosmetics and household cleaning products. Thankfully, a lot of supermarkets have BUAV approved own-brand household cleaning products including Co-operative, Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys.
If you want to help further, complain to companies who still test their products on animals when it's not necessary.
18. Wear Cruelty Free Clothing
Sadly, fur and animal skins, once frowned upon, are now coming back into fashion. Foxes, mink, rabbits and other animals are bred on farms in tiny wire cages for fur. They live a short and miserable life and are killed by gas-sing, electrocution or having their necks broken. Sometimes, they are skinned alive. Fur is never a by-product of meat as animals are killed at a young age for their meat and an older age for their fur.
Similarly, reptiles are often skinned alive for their skins and sometimes geese have their feathers plucked whilst still alive for down.
Leather is generally seen as a lot more acceptable than fur and reptile skins as it’s seen as a by-product of meat. However, leather is as profitable as meat and contributes wholeheartedly to the meat trace. The trade for leather in India, is particularly cruel, with cows being whipped, legs tied together and slaughtered in front of one another.
So, by avoiding fur, leather and other animal skins, you can be sure you’re not giving your money to a number of cruel trades. There are plenty of alter-natives to these materials; fake fur and plastics are available in many shops. However, be wary of some ‘fake’ fur; some fur is labelled as ‘fake’ when imported from China where it has really been made out of fur from stray cats and dogs. Can’t tell the difference? Real fur is a lot thinner and more airy than fake fur.
19. Keep An Eye Out For Captive Animal Cruelty
Whether you’re on holiday, a zoo, a circus or an aquarium if you see a captive animal being treated cruelly or neglectfully, take a note of where they are, the situation and problems and report it to the Born Free Foundation. They will them log this and will write to relevant authorities and establishment concerned. They will also respond to the complainant with advice on how to take the issue further. The following behaviours are ones to look out for in all captive animals as they are signs of significant stress:
Bar biting
Over grooming and self mutilation
Pacing
Rocking/ swaying
Head bobbing
Eating faeces or spreading/ playing with it
Vomiting and eating it
Neck twisting
Circling
As soon as you see any of these disturbing behaviours in captive animals, contact the Born Free Foundation. Contact details can be found at www.bornfree.org.uk.
20. Spreading The Message About Animals
The emotional lives of animals and their general treatment within a number of establishments, isn’t well publicised enough. Being hidden away in labor-atories and farms, often the most awful atrocities are carried out on animals who can’t defend themselves. By buying ethical alternatives to products that involve animal abuse, you can make a huge difference. However, to really make a difference to the lives of animals in captivity, we all need to spread the word of not only the emotions of animals but also the general treatment. As well as word of mouth, leaflets can be one of the best methods of spreading the word. This gives the platform to explain each issue in a fair amount of detail with information on how people can help. Vegan Outreach are a charity who use well constructed leaflets explaining how farm animals in America are treated and practical ways people can help. These are general-ly distributed outside colleges.
If you want to deliver leaflets, you can order bundles from a number of places including PETA and Animal Aid. Or you can download them from speakfortheanimals.webs.com. Nobody likes to be preached to so one way of delivering without causing offence, could be to use a leaflet that talks about the issues but where the main message is about joining the charity. People tend to respect that charities have to gain support in a number of cost effective ways, rather than feel like someone is telling them how to live.