Compassionate Gift Giving // Compassionate Christmas // Animals Australia

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Grim Reality: Consumers Unwittingly Buy Into Animal Cruelty

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The animals who share this world with us deserve a happy Christmas too!

Give the gift of kindness this year by making your consumer choices compassionate ones. It’s easy! And to make it even easier, here are some handy hints to help you along the way:

Every year, millions of animals are subjected to cruel and unnecessary testing of cosmetics and household products.

Buy cruelty free! You can view a full list of companies which do not use animal testing, and buy cruelty free goods online.

Don’t buy products which are tested on animals. If it doesn’t mention this on the label, in most cases either the product or its ingredients will have been tested on animals, or will have animal-based ingredients.

A symbolic gift to charity is a thoughtful gift that gives twice—and perfect for those who already have ‘everything’!

Make a donation on behalf of your friend to charity. Animals Australia has adorable gift certificates available, or if you’d prefer to donate to a human health charity, choose one which doesn’t fund animal experimentation.

Don’t buy ‘animal’ gifts. If you’re buying a gift for a friend in the form of a donation to a poor community, avoid ‘gifts’ such as ‘chickens’ and ‘goats’. Aside from encouraging animal cruelty, this type of gift is not environmentally sustainable; consuming valuable food and water resources which could otherwise be used by people.

Yes—they’re cute, and you’ll be in the kids’ good books for at least the next 6 months—but they all grow up and are a life-long responsibility. More animals are discarded after the Christmas period than any other time due to impulse buys.

Consider making a donation to, or volunteering for, an animal shelter—and help some of the thousands of loving yet unwanted animals this Christmas season.

If you’re going away for the holidays, make arrangements with a kennel, cattery or animal minder well in advance, as bookings are at a premium over this period.

Set aside a room or area where your pets can escape to on Christmas Day if they’re not used to having lots of people around.

Don’t give a pet as a gift, as it can send the wrong message that animals are commodities and therefore ‘disposable’. Wait until after the Christmas period, and save a life by rescuing a needy companion animal from an animal shelter rather than supporting a pet shop.