Cruelty-Free Living

What is It?

Living as cruelty free as possible is an alternative to becoming a "vegetarian" or "vegan". It is more than a simple food choice. It recognizes that other animals value their lives as much as we value ours, but that we as humans, are omnivours.

What It is Not?

It is not possible to live entirely cruelty free.. so we are simply trying to live less cruelly than other people. Some people might claim they are entirely cruelty free, but by living you are a consumer, every thing we consume comes at the expense of suffering on some level. At some point you stepped on a bug or hit one with your car. Buying any "new" item means environments are destroyed and resources are consumed, and so on. This is not to scare you off, but to give you a realistic thought pattern. Basically, living entirely cruelty free is impossible.

Food

You might select to become a vegetarian or vegan, however these are not entirely "cruelty free". Massive deforestation has taken place simply to raise vegetables, as such eating some "wild caught" game actually encourages wildlife to be preserved. Wild caught game suffers less than factory raised animals. They are not warehoused or pumped with chemicals and hormones. Nor are the driven in crowded trucks to the slaughter. By controlling the wild population it makes it easier for other wild animals to survive winters and food shortages.

Eating less meat. Obviously less meat means less suffering. Have some meatless meals, and some meatless days. Most people in developed nations eat more meat than they require for a healthy diet. Select the meat you do eat carefully, selecting grass raised beef over factory raised beef, and knowing that one dead cow feeds more people than one dead chicken. As such eating beef may be considered less cruel. Plant a garden so you grow some of your own food.

Veal: Calves are taken from dairy cows at a young age, often crippled by living in restrictive conditions.... I never eat veal, and have reduced my milk intake.

Eggs: you can stop a lot of suffering by eating only free range eggs. Be aware that "free range" means different things depending where you live, it may simply mean the chickens are not packed into tiny cages but rather are kept "loose" in a bigger warehouse. On the other end it means the chickens are actually loose in a yard, nibbling on grass and being able to walk around at will for the day. Both are considerably less cruel than battery hen egg production. Chicken (either for eggs or food, is one of the cruelest raised of all livestock.

Honey: Some vegans refuse to eat honey, but, if you think about it, honey production actually requires people be nice to their bees... as such honey is good to support.. also if you buy candles try buying Beeswax Candles, they are environmentally friendly too.

Lifestyle

Pet stores who sell animals (particularly puppies and kittens) support the very cruel industry of Puppy Mills, if you want a pup buy from a breeder or adopt from a shelter rather than rewarding a store for encouraging people to breed pups for no other reason than to make a profit.

Spay and Neuter! Millions of kittens and pups are euthanized every year because more are born than there are homes for, even if your kittens find homes, it means somebody else's did not. If your pet has babies.. do not give them away free. It is a well known fact than many serial killers started on "free to good home" pets.

Know your brands. A lot of brands say "This product has not been tested on animals" BUT the ingredients might have been tested prior to forming it into a product.

Make smart choices in your health... Bad lifestyle choices may mean a lifetime of being dependent on drugs whose manufacturing process involved animal testing.

Be aware of the cruelty in the production of some drugs, particularly female replacement drugs for menopausal women. Many were made from pregnant mare urine, at the expense of the slaughter of thousands of foals as "by-products" of the industry. Most of these drugs have "PREM" in their name. You can buy similar drugs made from Yams.

We all know dog fights are cruel, but so is dog and horse racing. Dogs are killed when they are no longer racing... and horses are often pushed to race too young, before the age that many horses are even allowed riders.

Shop at second hand stores, less manufacturing means less suffering. If you buy a used fur coat, or silk shirt, you are NOT contributing to cruelty.

Do not put poison out for bugs or mice. Poison is a very cruel suffering death. If for some reason you must kill a bug, do it fast, otherwise simply scoop up the little guy and take him outdoors.

Do not be cruel to other people either... when you are mean to one person they tend to take it out on other people, or animals.

Other

Some people will argue that eating a tomato is just as cruel as eating a cow. But let us not be idiots. A cow feels pain, a cow feels bored when kept in a feedlot knee deep in poop. A tomato plant is not killed when its fruit is picked. It grew that fruit for the purpose of it being eating in order to spread its' seeds. In most climates, the plant itself would then die in the winter. The argument that plants suffer on the same level as animals is silly. While they may suffer, it is probably not to the same extent. Plus they are not raised cruelly.
It is impossible to live 100% cruelty free, but we can try to be aware of what we do, what we eat, what we buy, and how we think.