Paws Crossed for this Year

A new year. A time to look hopefully to the future.This year I hope we can seriously make head way with animal welfare.

Puppy farming has become far more publicly acknowledged, with newspapers and TV shows and articles occurring on a fairly frequent basis. There has also been a rise in the number of people prosecuted for puppy farming as well, which is a promising sign. Puppy farming needs to stop, and it would be fantastic if we could get the government to listen to this important animal welfare issue and bring in stricter laws and harsher punishments. I hope that with the help of other like minded people, we can help bring this about. If you are interested in helping this important cause there are a number of events occurring throughout the year, one of the big ones being Pup Aid, which will be happening in London and is an event dedicated to raising awareness and hopefully ending puppy farming. Pup Aid has all the details, plus key information about the cruel industry as well as their ‘Where’s Mum?’ campaign. I shall be attending this event, and it would be great to see some of you supporting puppies and dogs who suffer from this abhorrent practice and try to bring about the stop those who put profit before puppy and dog welfare. For more information about puppy farming and links to other websites please see my Puppy Farming post. If you can do one thing this year, please share this subject with everyone you know and raise the awareness of puppy farming and their suffering that is happening in this country, and across the world. There is no need for this intense suffering and we need to end it now.

The protestation about the Yulin Dog and Cat meat festival last year was the biggest it has ever been, with thousands of complaints and petitions for the horrific festival to be stopped. Newspapers and tv stations covered the practice, and the torture that occurs. Of course, dogs and cats are cruelly abused and tortured for meat on a daily basis in Asia, something I will be discussing in my upcoming blog post. The sheer volume of animals that suffer for this festival alone is appalling and the practice of abuse and torture before the animal is killed is sickening. We have more exposure to this festival now than we had previously, and that means more people can see the cruelty that is taking place and that needs to be stopped. I hope that you all will sign petitions against this cruelty and show your disgust with China for allowing this to continue. I hope this year that we, as a Western power that China relies on, can pressure China into acting against this cruel trade and stop the consumption of dog and cat meat, and end the Yulin festival for good. For more information on this subject, please see my blog post in the next few weeks, but I do warn you not to Google the subject if you are sensitive to graphic images.

Animal testing is coming more and more into the limelight, and Cruelty Free living becoming more mainstream. More people are becoming aware of the suffering that companies put animals through so they can make a profit, and they are choosing not to buy cruelty products. I believe this is again an issue of awareness; many people would not buy products that were tested on animals if they were aware of it, and if they knew what other products there are to buy which do not harm animals in any way. The secrecy around brands and their processes needs to end, and the lies that they spread about themselves so they can appear ethical needs to stop. People should be able to make an informed decision about the products that they buy, and what they are giving their money to support. Some companies like Urban Decay and Body Shop make out to be the ethical choice but they are owned by an animal testing company, and people should be aware of the fact that the money this give to these companies ultimately supports animal testing. I believe animal testing for cosmetics is beginning to be pushed out of society, with many countries banning the practice and it becoming far easier to buy Cruelty Free products. We need to wield our Western power, again with countries like China, who do the majority of cosmetic animal testing, to stop this practice. Animal testing for medicine is another, more controversial matter, and something I will be discussing in another blog post. And educational testing is again a matter to be discussed. I hope that this year we can push for more countries to ban animal testing and for the secrecy that surrounds companies to be removed so more people can make an informed decisions about the products they buy and the companies they support. Another key change that would impact the suffering caused by animal testing is if we could push for the government to pass legislation against the testing of ingredients for cleaning and cosmetics, instead of just the whole products as it is now. These changes would vastly affect the amount of animals that suffer in the name of beauty. I have a number of posts relating to animal testing and those companies which are guilty of it, please do check them out.

The consumption of leather and fur within the UK is still a big issue, and something that is vastly ignored. Fur trim and clothing made out of fur such an angora is still present in a wide variety of shops such as Kurt Geiger and House of Fraser. Adding to this problem is the mis-labeling of items as faux-fur when in actual fact it is real fur. It is also not a well known fact that many leather items that are present on the UK market are assumed to be cow or pig leather when in actual fact they are dog or cat leather. This subject ties into the dog meat subject which I will be writing about soon. This is something that needs more publicity and needs to be discussed more by animal lovers, newspapers and Tv stations as well as charitable organisations. I believe that if people were aware that the leather they are looking at could be dog or cat, they would be horrified and would not choose to buy such items. Again, if people were aware of the suffering of rabbits for angora fur, I believe they would choose not to support such a barbaric and cruel trade. For more information on angora fur please see my Bunnies deserve More post and look out for my upcoming leather post.

The last big one for me, and is more specific than the above, is the plan for the beagle breeding facility in York. This was approved last year, however due to the intense protests of people throughout the United Kingdom, this decision is now being questioned. I believe the decision on whether or not the plan will be going ahead will be coming out soon, and I desperately hope that they won’t allow the facility to be built. Beagles are such loving, loyal and docile creatures, which is why they are exploited so much but this needs to stop. Testing on dogs and cats in this country, and the world needs to end; its an archaic and brutal practice, and it is questionable whether or not it truly advances science, especially when there are so many advanced alternatives out there which have been proven to give better results than animal testing. I hope this doesn’t go ahead, and that this can be the turning point against the use of dogs and cats, and hopefully animals in general for scientific testing. For more information about beagles and their use in testing please see my previous Stop the Suffering of Beagles post and Tears for Unloved Paws post.

These are keys issues which would affect so many animals and save so many lives. There are other issues within animal welfare, of course but I have simply picked out the ones that are close to my heart and that I desperately want to stop. It truly breaks my heart when I think of the suffering that goes on in the country and around the world, and I need to try and help. If you feel that you want to help, please share the truth of these issues to everyone you know and raise awareness for these issues. You can also join and support charities such as Naturewatch and Puppy Love Campaigns amoung others with donations and voluntary work. Finally, you can go along to events that support the end of these cruel practices and raise awareness, there are always events going on throughout the country such as Paws in the Park and Pup Aid.

Please support animals and end their suffering by raising awareness and donating your time and money. Many of us keep them in our home and love them more than can be expressed. They save us and care for us when no one else can or will. Can’t we do the same for them?  We can end all of this injustice and cruelty, we just need to make our voices heard for those who cannot speak. For those who are innocent of crime and suffer intensely for our luxuriously lifestyle. Please please please help save animals this year, in any way you can.

For the paws xxx