Animal Testing

Most of us have heard about animal testing and we see the labels on our beauty products occasionally saying that they have or have not been tested on animals. However, animal testing goes beyond the idea of washing a dog with shampoo to make sure they don't break out or lose all their hair. Thousands of animals are losing their eye sight, mobility, safety, and even lives due to animal testing through out the United States and it must end. These animals lie in cages their entire lives fearing the next experimentation they'll have to endure. When someone walks past their cage they become terrified and their blood pressure spikes according to a PETA article done on the injustice of these acts. "The stress, sterility and boredom causes some animals to develop neurotic behaviors such incessantly spinning in circles, rocking back and forth and even pulling out their own hair and biting their own skin." This quote says it all. These animals have the same reactions humans have so it isn't okay for them to suffer this way. Many people don't realize the products they're using contribute to the painful lives animals are living in these testing facilities. There skin,, eyes, mind, and spirits are killed through animal testing. Help end this tragedy by becoming aware of products that support animal testing and try and stop supporting those corporations. 




http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx

Puppy Mills

"Puppy mills have been around for decades. They continue to thrive because they prey on unwitting consumers who are smitten by too-cute-for-words puppies in pet store windows and on legitimate-seeming websites. Puppy mills house dogs in shockingly poor conditions. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are often killed, abandoned or sold cheaply to another mill to try and get "one more litter" out of the dog. The annual result of all this breeding is millions of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems." - Humane Society Puppy Mills Article

Photo By: CameliaTWU

The quote above is talking about puppies just like the one shown here. The cute, precious, innocent puppies you see in pet stores are coming from horrible places where no one loves them or cares for them humanely. Many times if someone buys a puppy online or from a pet store they are helping fund puppy mills across the country. These animals are raised in horrendous conditions. They stay in cages their entire lives if they are being used as breeders and if they are to be sold they still stay in a cage with no exercise or walks or any outside time to be a happy dog. As stated by a rescuer above the animals kept to breed will breed non stop until they can no longer and then they are either killed or abandoned or sent somewhere else where they might be able to force one more litter out of them. This is so unbelievably cruel. The living conditions inside their cages are disgusting to say the least. Because they are never allowed to get out the animals are forced to live in their own feces and urine which is not only the main contributor to the smell that surrounds the mills making the air unbreathable, but also unsanitary so that it causes all kinds of infections and diseases. The puppies and breeders are not cleaned or groomed which only makes their skin more irritated and prone to wounds. Matted hair can be painful for dogs and I'm not sure people realize this. These poor animals can be spared this pain and mistreatment if people stop buying from online sites selling dogs or buying from pet stores with litters of puppies. These stores and sites are experts at convincing people that they don't contribute to puppy mills but more often than not they are lying. There are hundreds of animal shelters where abandoned animals are taken and are just as deserving as "pure-breds" of love and nurturing. This shouldn't be an issue at all. If you aren't the type of person who likes having pets around then you can at least spread the word about puppy mills and tell all the animal lovers out there what they can do to help.

Photo By: Life Lenses

http://video.humanesociety.org/video/629262638001/Channels/602022756001/Latest-Videos/1268618368001/Puppy-Mills-Supplying-NY-Pet-Stores/

Chicken Farms/Factories

" The chicken that you eat today will live for approximately 8 weeks. Any longer and it's hormone-induced weight, will have long since crushed its legs, forcing it to starve to death on the floor which, by then will be so thick with feces and urine as to almost drown a chicken or (because of the ammonia) burn its eyes and lungs out before it would have time to starve to death." Quote by:  _Loaf_

There are many vegetarians in society today. The majority of people who are meat eaters don't understand why some have chosen to give up this tasty food. PETA posted an article, Chickens Used for Food, about the mass production of chicken in the US. This article makes it clear why, at least when it comes to poultry, some people chose not to eat meat. I know what some of you are thinking. PETA, isn't that the group of people who throw red paint on people and are crazy and call everyone murderers, etc? Well, perhaps some of those people do those things, but that isn't the point of the organization. Animals are being abused every day by the thousands by corporations who could care less about the pain they are causing. According to this article, more than 7 billion chickens are killed each year for their meat and 452 million hens are used for their eggs. The ones used for their meat are taken immediately after being hatched to being stuffed chalk full of drugs that will enhance their growth and ensure a speedy gateway for cash to go into their owners pockets. These chicks never see their parents and live in a dark building for a few weeks under horrible conditions until they are ready to be slaughtered. The other hens are kept in minuscule cages where they are forced to live their lives and must relieve themselves on top of each other because the cages are stacked to save room. Out of the chicks hatched for laying eggs, the male chicks are either thrown into a bag where they will suffocate and be thrown out as trash or they will go into macerators or grinders...while still alive. This is a disgusting habit that is being allowed to continue because of the high demand for chicken, but is it really chicken? These animals are filled with so many growth enhancement drugs that their bodies often can't keep up and they die of organ failure. Or they become so heavy so quickly from being stuffed with food 24/7 that their legs don't develop quick enough to be able to support the weight. This isn't even taking into consideration the preservatives and other chemicals injected into the chicken after slaughter. I'm not saying give up eating chicken. Chicken is great for you of prepared properly. This, however, is not healthy for you and it's cruel to these animals. There are other ways of getting nutrition than eating chicken. At the bottom of this article that PETA provides there is a link to ways of being a healthy vegetarian/vegan. As I said before, I'm not pushing vegetarianism, but I do think it's something everyone should consider.

Photos by: _Loaf_

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-
food/chickens.aspx