I became a vegetarian and striving vegan 3 or 4 years ago. My eyes were opened by the many Change.org petitions revolving around factory farming and other animal cruelty issues. As an animal lover for as long as I can remember (my first cat followed me home at age 5….) I could no longer “trick” myself to into being ok with eating a sentient animal. And a Vegetarian was born!

As with all “ex” whatevers (ex-smoker, ex-drinker, ex-meat eater, etc…) I find it hard to understand how my friends and family – all of whom love animals – don’t see what I see. People are funny. As soon as something becomes “real” to us, we tend to think we discovered it and that everyone else should feel the way we do. I’m wrestling with that when it comes to being vegetarian. I’m trying to make it to Vegan – it is tough. I am thinking about everything I eat, which is good, but I’m still not 100% there – but I won’t stop trying!

So having made the jump to not eating meat and being a voracious participant on Twitter on animal cruelty related topics (@Fl_Scubafiend), I’m now trying to make it to the next step – removing all animal tested products from my home.

WOW!

Having foolishly thought in this day and age all companies had eliminated animal testing at least from cosmetics and personal care it was a terrifying wake up call! The desire to sell in a brick & mortar site in China is such a huge driver for so many of these companies. It makes me sad that instead of using their power as huge international organizations to drive change and make countries like China become progressive in their stance towards animal cruelty, they are chasing the almighty dollar instead of ethics. That makes me sad. And when I ran across a blog listing all of the sub-entities of some of these huge organizations that are guilty of horrific animal testing practices, I realized that my home is about to have a major overhaul. I’m sad that so many of the brands I’ve trusted my whole life – like Clinique, Johnson & Johnson, Jergens and Coca-Cola to name a few – are no longer companies I can support with my dollars. I guess given that horrible activities like the Yulin Dog & Cat Meat “Festival” in China continue to go on, I shouldn’t be surprised that they do not see animal testing as wrong. 

I will vote with my dollars. I hope you will consider doing the same. The research is tough, but eye opening! Good luck!