Today’s post is very hard for me to write and even worse to meditate on. I own a dog myself and have loved animals since I was old enough to hold one in my hand. My love and fascination towards animals ranged from having a little white mouse as a pet, to loving frogs and picking up and healing little lizards that had been attacked by cats. It’s in my essence until this day. I normally don’t like to write about things that can turn our days gray but this is something that breaks my heart and I would like to share it with everyone.

If you look at the picture below these words, what do you see? What does it make you feel? Happiness? Love? What about realization? Or compassion? Let’s face it; whenever we see a picture of a dog, we melt. We smile, say “ahhh so cute”, run home to hug our own dogs, or think about getting one (if so, please adopt!). But there’s so much more behind that picture that we don’t take into consideration. Unfortunately, we live in a world where short-term gains come before health, humility and humanity. Yes, you read right. HUMANITY! To make this a little more realistic (maybe dramatic? People seem to react better to drama than reality), I want you to stop what you are doing right now and follow these instructions. Ladies, take your cosmetic bag out of your purse and read your cosmetics’ labels. Gents, if you are home, run to your bathrooms and look at the products you used this morning. Shampoos, shaving lotions, etc… Now, ladies and gents, besides all the hard-to-pronounce toxic ingredients on the labels, what else do you see? Do you see a pink bunny logo, or words that say “cruelty-free”, “vegan”, or “no animal testing”? If your products show that, you are freakin’ awesome and I love you! Your conscious buying is shaping this world for the better. If your products don’t show that, here’s a reality check. According to research, 60-74% of personal products and 80-95% of household products have been tested on animals. Now, here’s the biggest reality check of all. The word “animals” does not only include rats and mice, but also rabbits, monkeys, birds, DOGS AND CATS. So now that it’s out there, what can we do about it? Nowadays, it’s not enough to love our dogs and cats if every dollar we spend puts the life of other living beings through torture and fear. All animals that go through product testing experiments never get to see the light of day, or step their paws on green grass, or know what a tender genuine touch means. Half of those animals die within 2-3 weeks after being tested on. Sadly, this is the world we live in but the decision to stop it or support it rests on our hands. So please, next time you go shopping read labels carefully and share this knowledge with the ones you love. Compassion should be the only language governing this planet.

With love, Vale.

For info on cruelty-free products, go over my instagram and blog posts. I’ve shared so many already.

If you would like to read more about animal testing, click here.

Peta.org recently showed the cutest video about beagles being freed from labs and taking their first steps on beautiful green grass. <3 Click here to watch it.