Animal Aid: Living without cruelty

LIVING WITHOUT CRUELTY

Living without cruelty

10 Ways to Transform Your World

Much of Animal Aid's work is directed at exposing cruelty to animals. But it is equally important to promote the many different ways in which individual people, in their own lives, can help end animal suffering.

Ordinary, everyday decisions make a difference! We call it Living Without Cruelty. Simple actions like choosing only to buy cosmetics that haven’t been tested on animals, adopting a fur free policy when it comes to buying clothes and accessories and cutting animal products from your diet, are examples of positive steps you can take. And don’t worry, you will still be able to shop in your favourite stores. Once you start looking, you won’t believe how many cruelty-free items are available.

Cruelty-Free Goods

In March 2013, the European Union introduced a complete ban on the sale of all new cosmetics that have been tested on animals. This is a tremendous achievement, but there are still companies selling products outside of the EU that have been tested on animals. The humane cosmetics ‘leaping bunny’ logo continues to be the best way to ensure that the products you buy are cruelty-free.

Clothing

Compassionate people are horrified by the thought of animals being farmed and killed for their fur. And it's easy to see why. Naturally wild animals are confined in tiny cages for their entire lives. They are prevented from carrying out normal social behaviour, and suffer severe psychological problems as a result of extreme anxiety and fear.

Cruelty-Free Home

Living without cruelty means thinking beyond what we eat and wear, to all aspects of our lives. By choosing animal-friendly options, we can all take positive action to help end animal suffering, and make our homes truly cruelty-free.

Companion Animals

Many of us are lucky enough to share our homes with companion animals, who are important and much-loved members of the family. Sadly, not all animals are this fortunate, and there are thousands of unwanted and abandoned animals in rescue centres across the country in desperate need of a home.

Sport and Leisure

Sadly, some people in our society consider it acceptable to exploit and kill animals in the name of leisure and sport. Despite the ban, many hunts continue to kill foxes, deer and hares, and every year the game bird industry breeds more than 40 million pheasants and partridges to be shot. And it's not just the obvious blood sports that cause animal suffering. Horse racing may be appear to be harmless, yet more than 400 horses are raced to death every year. Only 40 per cent of horses bred for racing go on to compete, and many of those who don't make the grade are slaughtered for meat to be consumed abroad. Please do not fund this cruel industry by betting on or attending races.

Purple Poppy: Commemorating the Animal Victims of War

Throughout the history of human conflicts, animals have been victims of war. During World War I, dogs and pigeons were used to deliver messages between frontline trenches and further afield. Horses, donkeys and elephants have been used as beasts of burden, while a shocking array of animals - from bears to deer - have been kept as pets in the midst of battle. Today, animals continue to be used to detect explosives, and thousands suffer and die each year in laboratories, infected with biological or chemical agents, or deliberately shot.

Don’t Send a Cow

Our Don’t Send a Cow campaign debunks animal donor schemes to ‘developing countries’ and shows there are much better, more economical and environmentally-friendly ways of helping.

Christmas Without Cruelty

Every December, Animal Aid's Living Without Cruelty campaign is promoted with an easy guide to a cruelty-free Christmas. We also stage Animal Aid's Christmas Fayre in central London, which is packed with gifts to buy and delicious food, plus talks by well-known speakers and a children's play area.

Details of our 2012 Christmas Fayre