A lot of people have different stances when it comes to animal rights. Some people take a more aggressive stand than others. It may take a while to restructure your whole life to be in line with an aggressive stand, but there are small actions you can gradually take that will lead you to an ethical life and a conscience free from guilt. Everyone can do their part, no matter how small, to protect animal rights.
1. Volunteer
Most people who have ever felt a deep connection with their pets are revolted by the idea of kill shelters. The reality of the matter is that no-kill shelters take a lot more money and manpower to run. If you’re willing to give your time and energy, you can put your hands to work beside the other loving and hardworking hands that make ethical care for homeless pets possible. By adopting or fostering animals that haven’t found a forever home, you can help reduce overcrowding at shelters. Make sure to get all of your animals spayed or neutered to prevent unwanted animals from having no place to go.
2. Research Animal Testing
There are some products, particularly those in the medical industry, that are mandated to be tested on animals. Some products, such as cosmetics and toiletries, don’t need to be tested on animals. Despite the lack of a mandate, companies do it anyway. By only shopping with cruelty free companies, you’re diverting money away from those who do. Since companies follow the money, every dollar you spend against voluntary animal testing is a dollar that might change the ethics of the companies who participate.
3. Get a Job With Animals
If you want to understand the experience of working with animals, get a job doing it. Animals who were abused or mistreated often wind up in zoos, because they cannot be released into the wild due to their inabilities to fend for themselves and their special needs. By becoming qualified to work with these animals, you can improve their quality of life. You can give them a second chance to live happily after the ordeals that they’ve been through.
4. Become a Vegan
Becoming a vegan is the most important thing you can do to protect animal rights. By omitting the use of animal products from your life, you aren’t financially supporting an industry with ethics that are dubious at best, even when they claim to be ethical. Some vegans rescue battery hens and keep them truly free range on their property, and consume the eggs their rescue hens produce. Even if you don’t go completely vegan, any step you take drastically reduces your dependency on the frequently cruel farming industry.
5. Watch Your Money
Even if a particular product you’re using doesn’t contain animal derivatives, or if the whole brand shares that philosophy, you never know what the parent company may be up to. The larger company may make donations to organizations that are lax on animal rights. They may do business with countries like China, who mandate animal testing for virtually everything. Follow the chain. You could inadvertently be funding things you don’t support, being none the wiser about where your money is going. Be an informed consumer.
Small steps count. Even if you can’t fully commit to living a life centered around animal rights, every effort that you make will have a positive impact.