- In the egg industry, male chicks are ground up alive because they don’t lay eggs and are considered useless.
- Wool sheep often undergo the cruel practice of mulesing, in which the animals are restrained as huge chunks of their skin are cut out in an (often ineffective) attempt to thwart a condition called flystrike.
- The keratin used for hair straightening is made of ground-up horns, hooves, feathers, quills, and hair of various animals.
- To make down pillows, comforters and other items, geese are plucked until their bodies are bloody. Goose down alternatives are the compassionate choice.
- Zoos often kill the animals when there are “too many” of a particular species.
- Chickens on factory farms have been bred to be so large, they weigh the equivalent of a 500-pound human 10-year-old child
- On fur farms, foxes, minks, chinchillas — and even wolves, dogs, and cats — are kept in tiny cages, then often anally electrocuted and/or skinned alive.
- Silk is derived from silkworm torture. The worms are boiled alive to obtain the silk fibers.
- In the Draize test, often performed on rabbits, researchers drip shampoo and other liquids into animals’ eyes, causing terrible pain and blindness. Always buy personal care items that have not been tested on animals.
- Bear bile is used for medicine in Asia. The bears are kept in small cages and are unable to move while the bile from their gallbladder is drained from their bodies.
- The Running of the Bulls in Spain may be billed as a must-do for brave tourists, but the event is incredibly cruel. The bulls are forced to run and then stabbed and speared by matadors until they are dead.
- In the dog racing industry, the dogs are drugged, caged twenty-three hours a day, and treated like commodities. They are killed for selective breeding and when injured.
- Horse racing is similar to dog racing. The horses are given steroids, lead an unnatural life of confinement, and injuries and retirement often result in being euthanized.
- Circus animals are forced to live up to 11 months of the year on the road, confined to filthy, cramped trailers. Tigers pace back and forth in their cages, a clear sign of “zoochosis.”
- Animals used for entertainment, including in movies and television, are often stolen from their families in the wild. They are often trained inhumanely using painful whips, and lead a life of solitude and suffering.
- Keeping dogs chained in the yard is cruel and can even be fatal. Chained pets are exposed to violent storms, extreme heat or cold, sadistic people, wild animals, fires, infestation of fleas (ticks, lice, et cetera), and more.
- 2.7 billion companion animals are euthanized annually in the United States because there’s nowhere to put them. Always spay and neuter your pets!
- Being hooked has been shown to be painful for fish — so even if you throw them back into the water, fishing is inherently cruel.
- To get angora wool, fur is ripped out of live, conscious rabbits until they are bald.
- To make purses, young alligators and crocodiles are factory farmed and cruelly murdered.
- The lucrative exotic pet trade involves stealing baby animals to sell on the black market. Reptiles, sugar gliders, and other animals are sold to people or for entertainment – but keeping these animals is cruel and supports poaching.
