Animal testing

Ever since I was little I have always had a pet. When I was still a toddler my family had 3 dogs and as I grew older I had almost had every pet imaginable: hamsters, mice, rabbits, cockatiels and as for today we have 3 cats. So as you can imagine I have grown quite fond of animals and accustomed to a life with them. For me it has simply become unthinkable to live without them because I think that they somehow contribute a lot to who you become as a person. That is why I am also very passionate not only about my own animals but also about the rights and treatment of other animals all over the world.
      As we all know, in a great deal of countries animals are mistreated and considered worthless. In Italy for example, mainly in the South though, dogs and cats stray through the cities because they have no home or holders. That’s the case because most of the people that get themselves a pet seem to suddenly stop caring for their pets at some point. They abandon them and because most of them aren’t sterilized or castrated, the number of dogs and cats in the cities keep rising. People, whose fault it is in the first place, don’t want to deal with with the “nuisance” and so they just let them die, get killed in accidents or let the government take care of it. I just recently read for example, that the government of Sotschi (Russia ) has decided to kill 2000 stray dogs because of the Olympic games. They want their city to be “clean” and imposing for the games in 2014. As one can see, humans are so very capable of causing problems, but incapable of dealing with them or avoiding them in the first place.

      Another gruesome truth that too little people are aware of is Animal Testing. Do you know that almost every dish detergent or washing powder is tested on animals ? Or are you aware of the fact that almost every cosmetic or hygiene product we use is tested as well? Axe, Fa, Dove, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Neutrogena,…etc. All of those companies test their products (and in some other countries also their components) on animals in order to test their tolerance. Now this might sound harmless to some of you, but I can tell you that the opposite is actually the case: Mice, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, sheep, cats, dogs and even monkeys or cows are victims of the cosmetic industry and others. They suffer from diseases or dreadful infections until they "finally" die, just to be replaced by another animal. I don’t see a point in testing them because if there weren’t any harmful substances in those products (as it should be) it wouldn’t be necessary in the first place. I don’t want to be living with the burden to have caused a great deal of animals to die because of some cosmetic product that I could have easily lived without. I don't want to have their blood on my hands.

      Happily, there also exists a variety of make-up or hygiene products that aren’t tested on animals and some of them are even vegan. I for my part buy about 90 % of all my cosmetic stuff or hygiene products from brands that don’t do animal tests. If you also want to know more about what products are vegan or produced without animal tests, I can recommend you an app called “Wer macht’s?”. It gives you a pretty detailed overview of a lot of different brands and labels and their attitude towards animal testing. I have to admit though, that it is not always that easy to find good products that aren’t too pricy as well but I have always loved a good challenge. And maybe, so do you.