Kalani Mah/Staff reporter
When you consider buying a new shirt or a new makeup product do you realistically check each time if its cruelty free?
The contents of this post will cover what cruelty free is and how to define it, the importance of cruelty free and ways to make an impact in the cruelty free community.
What is cruelty free?
Before diving more into the cruelty free community, we need to know what it means. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary cruelty free is products that are developed or produced without inhumane testing on animals. This is a correct but broad term, when in most cases the word cruelty free has many more in depth examples. This can also mean facilities such as zoos, farms, clothing production, circuses, pet stores and aquariums treating their animals without cruelty and harm. Cruelty free also doesn’t always have to take place in entertainment, the market or products but it can also be the way someone treats a pet or one of the most difficult things to consider cruelty free is the meat we eat and how its handled and cared for.
What happens to these animals in lab facilities?
In the most common and known form of non cruelty free small animals such as rats/mice, beagles, rabbits, and occasionally other kinds of dogs and cats are put into labs and facilities for animal chemical testing. In these labs animals are injected with chemicals, force fed or starved, and forced to have chemicals on their skin and in their eyes ending with them being killed or dying with very few getting saved and put into shelters looking for forever homes. The effects of chemical injections and the many skin and eye chemical tests endured leaves these animals with neurotic behaviors, high stress levels, lack of environmental enrichment, spinning in circles, rocking back and forth, pulling out their own fur, or biting themselves. The few animals who survive lab testing most commonly continue these behaviors for long periods of time once out of labs, can have many wounds or health issues and struggle with mental health such as anxiety and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
What other kinds of harm do animals face?
The other forms of animal harm and cruelty can be in industries and facilities which can consist of animals being beaten or put in environment deficit areas. Examples can include the abuse and lack of care and attention animals experience in zoos, circuses and aquariums. If you go to a facility with the wrong motives animals can be forced into habitats that are small and unnatural to them while being abused and they are most times captured and taken from their families in the wild. Not only are they used for cosmetics, but animals are also used for our clothing and food benefit such as using their skin, fur and feathers or using them for meat when they are forced into wire cages in unsterile areas and sent to slaughterhouses. The most unnoticed form of animal cruelty many people do with no thought behind it. Hundreds of animals are abused by their owners each year whether that be physical abuse or neglect which are all forms of animal cruelty leading with animals being killed, dumped outside, put into shelters or they must endure the rest of their life with cruelty. Many also use glue traps, poison or harm wildlife such as bears and raccoons because of human conflict and interaction or they are considered to be “gross” or “just pests”.
How can you tell if a product is cruelty free?
Now with modern day technology many ways have been developed to identify if a product of company/brand is cruelty free. One of the most convenient and well-known methods is checking a product for a “cruelty free” certification. The most well known and reliable certification is the “PETA” or “Certified leaping bunny” certifications. Another convenient way to check is to download cruelty free apps such as the Leaping Bunny Program app which is a certified app that allows you to check for cruelty free brands and products. If you can’t access the app on your device, you can also go onto Google or Safari and you can search up the exact product or a list of cruelty free brands and products. The most reliable websites are PETA and Cruelty-Free Kitty. When checking if something is cruelty free be wary of the “Not tested on animals” label and logo. Many times this doesn’t mean a product is cruelty free because they may have a parent company that animal tests, they may hire a third party to animal test, they don’t verify the source of their ingredients or they sell in China which has a law only allowing products that have been tested on animals to be sold.
What can you do to help?
There are many ways to help but the most common ones currently are to check for cruelty free certification, advocate for animal voices on social media, volunteer in shelters, stop the use of poison and glue traps, attend and help with fundraisers and do something if you see treatment of an animal that isn’t right. Some people also choose to become vegan or vegetarian which helps in favor of the animals, but it isn’t ideal for every lifestyle, for those who can’t cut animal products out fully they may try to limit the amount of animal products they eat in a week or chose animal products as their last choice when they go out. Industries such as retail stores and laws have also now banned animal testing of products in Canada which is a step in the right direction for our industry.
Conclusion
To conclude simple things such as checking your products or reposting a post on social media can tremendously help in favor of animals who live through the trauma and anxiety of unfair treatment and animal cruelty.
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