posted by Stacy on Jan 21
A large part of activism is educating others, especially our children who will go on to inherit this world.
Most children have no idea how their daily habits affect animals or how easy it is to change. Kids typically want to be kind to animals but need someone to show them how!
In order to educate your children and others, educate yourself first! Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation is a thorough and easy-to-understand primer on animal rights. You can order it from PETA or you can try a local bookstore or library.
The following books, are also available from PETA:
- 50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk—full of fascinating facts and more than 100 fun and easy projects and ideas that show children how they can get active for animals
- Diet for a New America by John Robbins—a moving and well-documented book that describes the inhumane and unhealthy conditions under which animals are raised for food and shows how our health and ecological well-being are linked to the adoption of a vegan diet
What you and your children can do to help stop animal cruelty
Once you are familiar with the issues, share the knowledge! Create fliers, write letters, hold demonstrations, organize an information table at a concert or outdoors event, and encourage others to join you in your efforts to speak out for those who have no voice. Check out PETA.org regularly for updates, factsheets, and answers to “Frequently Asked Questions.”
Together, we can make this world a better place for all living beings….
posted by Stacy on Dec 22
Top 10 Ways to Prevent Animal Cruelty
If you’re a fan of the award-winning reality series Animal Precinct, then you’ve already seen the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement’s Supervisory Special Investigator Annemarie Lucas in action. But did you know that you, too, can help crack down on animal cruelty in your own community? Read on for Officer Lucas’s take on making the world a safer place for animals:
1. Be aware. Without phone calls from the concerned citizens who report cruelty in their neighborhoods, we wouldn’t know about most instances of animal abuse. It all comes from the public, it all starts with YOU—that’s why it’s so important to keep your eyes and ears open. Get to know and look out for the animals in your neighborhood. By being aware, you’re more likely to notice, for example, that the dog next door who was once hefty has lost weight rapidly—a possible indicator of abuse.
2. Learn to recognize animal cruelty. Here are some signs and symptoms that we see in many of the cases we investigate:
- Tick or flea infestations. Such a condition, if left untreated by a veterinarian, can lead to an animal’s death.
- Wounds on the body.
- Patches of missing hair.
- Extremely thin, starving animals.
- Limping.
- An owner striking or otherwise physically abusing an animal.
- Dogs who are repeatedly left alone without food and water, often chained up in a yard.
- Dogs who have been hit by cars-or are showing any of the signs listed above-and have not been taken to a veterinarian.
- Dogs who are kept outside without shelter in extreme weather conditions.
- Animals who cower in fear or act aggressively when approached by their owners.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Stacy on Dec 22
Have you ever wondered how many animals suffer in labs? It’s a good question. Because there are so many animals in laboratories and records are not kept for all animals, estimates of the number of animals tortured and killed annually in U.S. laboratories vary widely but are in the millions.
The Animal Welfare Act requires laboratories to report the number of animals used in experiments, but it does not cover mice, rats, and birds (used in some 80 to 95 percent of all experiments). Because these animals are not covered by the act, they remain uncounted, and we can only guess at how many actually suffer and die each year.
Many household products and cosmetics companies still pump their products into animals’ stomachs, rub them onto their skin, squirt them into their eyes, or force animals to inhale them as aerosol sprays. Charities such as the March of Dimes use donations from private citizens to fund experiments on animals, and the FDA requires all drugs to be tested on animals. However, animals differ from humans significantly, making animal drug tests unreliable and dangerous. New research methods, such as computer models, cell cultures, and human studies are more accurate, less expensive, and much more humane.
Companies that do not test on animals proudly state it on their labels. Send back items that you have from companies that test on animals, and write a letter to the companies explaining why you won’t buy their products anymore. For more information on animal testing and a list of companies that do not test on animals, see PETA’s Shopping Guide for Caring Consumers and be sure to share it with your friends! Learn more.
What You Can Do
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