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Animal Welfare Who walks the walk and talks the talk

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MyZoo2

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
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Nov 7, 2009
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Who walks the walk, and talks the talk?
I realize this forum is for guinea pigs, but who takes the principle of animal welfare & cruelty and applies it to their entire life? What companies take it too far in their approach to treatment of animals that you just won't go there (and please go beyond Petsmart & Petco - I think we covered that already!). Will you not use certain cleaning products because of animal testing? Will you not feed certain dog food?

I have a friend, who is completely cruelty free, and she got me thinking of this after I asked her to send a me a list of the companies that do not test on animals (a while back our harddrive crashed so I lost all my links). She also sent me the PETA video from when they did the Iams/Menu Foods investigation several years. I had seen this video before, but it does remind me of my focus and that I need to try harder to be a better person because there is always room for improvement.

At our house we have changed over to making our own cleaners, like the tea tree oil cleaner I mentioned in another post. We are reducing our meat in our diet, but the meat we still eat comes from a local sustainable farm and it's hormone free grass fed. My make up is cruelty free from Urban Decay, and they even have some vegan items. We only feed dog food from Champion Pet Foods, because I no longer trust the other large manufacturers that they can maintain high quality food and that they are doing what they should be doing (PETA video).


 
My family does this. I read some PETA websites, became vegan, and convinced my parents and brother to do so too. Now we follow a full vegan cruelty-free lifestyle: as well as eating animal free, we don't wear wool, silk or leather. We don't buy down comforters or pillows, and now we only rescue animals. We buy natural cruelty-free cleaners and a small brand dog food. My dog, Cody, was a birthday present. I wasn't vegan then, though a month later I became vegan, and I didn't understand how important it is to adopt. We got him from a "reputable" breeder. He's older now, and I still feel incredibly guilty that I didn't save a shelter puppy instead.
 
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Thanks veganpiggy for responding. I thought we'd end up with a few more responses. People are so trite in regards to how pet store animals are treated, but apparently they don't carry those same kind of passionate feelings regarding animal welfare to the rest of their life. At least this is the conclusion I draw from the lack of responses. :confused:
 
People are so trite in regards to how pet store animals are treated, but apparently they don't carry those same kind of passionate feelings regarding animal welfare to the rest of their life. At least this is the conclusion I draw from the lack of responses.
The conclusion you draw is incorrect - and that it's based on "lack of responses" from a thread you started all of a few hours ago is a little silly. Perhaps people haven't had a chance to read and respond to it. Or perhaps they just don't feel the need to justify the choices they make or how they live their lives.

This has come up a few times on the forum. Here's a link to a quasi recent discussion.

(broken link removed)
 
Or perhaps they just don't feel the need to justify the choices they make or how they live their lives.

For example, would you find it a bit hypocritical for someone to be very anti-petstores selling pets but used a product in their home that cost hundreds of other animals their lives just so it could be manufactured and be considered safe? Such as Iams dog food, certain household cleaners...

If somone is completely willing to boycott an entire type of stores because they sell live animals, then shouldn't they be willing to boycot other products/storest too?
 
For example, would you find it a bit hypocritical for someone to be very anti-petstores selling pets but used a product in their home that cost hundreds of other animals their lives just so it could be manufactured and be considered safe? Such as Iams dog food, certain household cleaners...
I would if people knew of the problems with such products to begin with and used them anyway, yes, but I also find it a bit uncouth that a person would attempt to "call out" members here for doing such when you haven't any idea whether or not it's actually the case.

Furthermore, there's a much better way to go about this discussion than by accusing members here of such hypocrisy for the simple offense of failing to respond to your thread, particularly when it's baiting to begin with, and seemingly initiated as a thinly veiled accusation.
 
I would if people knew of the problems with such products to begin with and used them anyway, yes, but I also find it a bit uncouth that a person would attempt to "call out" members here for doing such when you haven't any idea whether or not it's actually the case.

Furthermore, there's a much better way to go about this discussion than by accusing members here of such hypocrisy for the simple offense of failing to respond to your thread, particularly when it's baiting to begin with, and seemingly initiated as a thinly veiled accusation.

It was not intended as such, so let me apologize for it coming across that way. I was only interested in seeing how far people carried their activism into their day to day to lives. We had a similiar conversation today at work, and I thought it would post it here to see what the take was. Next time I will use different verbage that will more effectively demonstrate what I am trying to convey.
 
It was not intended as such...
Really? Because this statement makes your message seem pretty clear:

People are so trite in regards to how pet store animals are treated, but apparently they don't carry those same kind of passionate feelings regarding animal welfare to the rest of their life.
Like I said, it's a discussion worth having, but you aren't going to provoke much of a conversation if you put people immediately in the position of having to defend themselves, or their choices, right out of the gate.
 
We have always gotten our pets from shelters & rescues, but I met this awesome girl a few years ago who taught me about the rest of the stuff. It just kind of completed the circle so to speak for me. I am actually quite amazed at how many different companies still do animal testing and really strange items like furniture polish. Again, I do apologize. You are welcome to remove any statements/comments if you feel it would help further the discussion.
 
I have to say I think this is an interesting topic and worthy of discussion (hopefully without too much arguement!)

Personally, I think it is worth remembering that there is a difference between proven fact, "possible" facts, and pure opinion. It is also important to realise that people have different morals and opinions on various animal welfare issues. So long as people live by their own moral standard then they are doing what they think is right, and are not hypocrites. It is only hypocritical when a person claims to believe one thing, then does the opposite.

For example - I personally am very into animal welfare and this is reflected in all areas of my life. I am not into animal rights - therefore by some people's standards I am still a monster.

I'll start with the issue closest to home - pets. I am not against keeping pets - so long as no unnecessary suffering is caused. I am against neglect and abuse (inc poor care) hence my own pets are well cared for and I encourage others to do the same. I am not against the truly good, responsible breeders as such because I think they can be a force for good (eg improving health). I am against poor breeding practices, poor care in stores, treating animals as merchandise, impulse buying, and overpopulation. Hence I will now only get my pets as rescues / adoptions, I encourage others to do the same and I campaign against crap breeders and the sale of animals in stores.

As for other areas - I am not against eating animal products, therefore I am not a veg*n. However, I am against abusive farming practices therefore I buy higher welfare products (eg organic free range). I do not eat products that I believe can not be produced without suffering - eg fois gras.

I am against testing cosmetics and similar products on animals, because I do not believe it is necessary - therefore it causes unnecessary suffering. I use cosmetics and cleanig products from ethical companies (both in terms of animals and the environment).
I have nothing against the use of animals in medical research at the present time because I believe it is currently a "necessary evil" and the benefits outweight the costs. I therefore do not feel any guilt about taking medication, nor do I have any involvement with groups that campaign against medical research. However, this applies only so long as I believe it is necessary - when I feel that adequate alternatives exist I will no longer be in favour of using animals. I also actively campaign for better welfare of lab animals - inc better legislation, bigger minimum cage sizes etc.

That about sums it up for me - I'm interested to see what others have to say.
 
I'd rather keep just watching where this ends up, I am a little traumatized by some aggressiveness I noticed around here sometimes, and I rwally believe some people would try to crucify me if I spoke out.
Though, I need to say that I have a very similiar opinion to crazywiggy. I agree with some things and diagree on others. I do think it is an interesting topic. Let's see what people think
 
I'd rather keep just watching where this ends up, I am a little traumatized by some aggressiveness I noticed around here sometimes, and I rwally believe some people would try to crucify me if I spoke out.
Then why say anything at all? This thread was initiated to facilitate a discussion - which you're more than welcome to take part in. But if all you wish to do is note how "aggressive" you feel members are, there really are other places for it. You're welcome to start a new thread about that very matter, actually; but there's no reason to turn this thread into something other than what it was intended to be.
 
I rest my case about the aggressivity after that.
Still, I would like to know other people's opinion about it, since I have discussed the issue some days ago with some friends.
 
I rest my case about the aggressivity after that.
Still, I would like to know other people's opinion about it, since I have discussed the issue some days ago with some friends.
This is NOT the place to start a discussion like this. If you wish to discuss how aggressive you believe people on this forum are then please start a new thread in the "Why can't we all get along" section in the Kitchen. Do not try to redirect an existing thread and take it off topic to serve your whim.
 
Thanks veganpiggy for responding. I thought we'd end up with a few more responses. People are so trite in regards to how pet store animals are treated, but apparently they don't carry those same kind of passionate feelings regarding animal welfare to the rest of their life. At least this is the conclusion I draw from the lack of responses. :confused:

Perhaps one of the reasons you did not receive a lot of responses is because there is already a sticky thread like this https://www.guineapigcages.com/threads/32046/

Your "conclusion" is unwelcome, unwarranted and incorrect.
 
You know what? I'm closing this thread. Because it's crap. This thread was started by someone who was not happy that another activist thread didn't go her way and is out to start more arguments. This thread was NOT started with good intentions and has already devolved into the 'you're all so mean bull' and will never stay on topic--such as it was.

If you want to have some kind of intelligent discussions about these issues-great. This isn't the thread. Start over--without the thinly veiled attitudes.
 
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