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10 Things You Can Do To Make The Next Century Better For Animals

From Vol. 80, No. 1, of NEAVS (New England Anti-Vivisection Society) member's magazine.

1. Every time you buy a product, you send a message to that company. Make your message that you will only buy products that are cruelty-free. If enough people do this we'll see only cruelty-free products in the future, and that means less suffering for animals. For a list of cruelty-free companies, call NEAVS (617-523-6020).

2. Write to companies that still test their products on animals and let them know that you won't buy their products until they stop. Here is a list of those companies. Write to your Senators and Representatives urging them to support animal protection legislation.

3. Spread the word. It's as easy as putting a bumper sticker on your car or wearing a button on your shirt. You can raise the awareness of hundreds of people.

4. Learn the facts about vivisection. You already know that animal experimentation is cruel; do you also know that it's scientifically unsound? For a free book list, call NEAVS.

5. Educate others on the topic of vivisection. Set up a display at your public library. NEAVS will send you a free library kit to get you started.

6. Educate the educators in your town that dissection is a thing of the past. There are hundreds of superior ways to learn anatomy and physiology without cutting up animals that are killed specifically for classroom dissection. Call NEAVS to receive "Beyond Dissection", a catalog that lists over 350 alternatives to dissection.

7. Arrange to have a speaker knowledgeable about animal protection talk at your library or club. Call NEAVS to arrange a presentation.

8. Make sure your charitable donations are not going to wasteful animal experimentation. NEAVS will send you a list of organizations that don't conduct animals experimentation. Remember to let medical charities know why you will or will not contribute to them.

9. Become a vegetarian. You drastically lessen your chances of heart disease and many other illnesses. If more people adopted this healthy lifestyle, less unnecessary experiments on animals would occur.

10. If you have the time, money and love that is required to give a companion animal a good home, please adopt a dog or cat from a shelter. In addition, spay or neuter your dog or cat companions, and let your friends know why they should. Over 17,000,000 dogs and cats are euthanized every year in shelters across the USA because there are not enough homes for them all.