Cruelty towards animals is one of the atrocious plights that our society is witnessing, involving many forms of violences and ill-treatment and affecting a larger number of species day by day. As we grow into a more sensitive society, we can observe a mild growth of conciousness among the younger generations. Massive numbers of teenagers are following this very intriguing and exciting lifestyle, being portrayed as a change in behaviour to save animals and stand for their rights, it has become nearly a trend, and for many an obsession, VEGANISM. However should veganism be considered more of a personal decision to act in favour of one’s health or should it be viewed as a concrete and effective solution to fight against crualty towards animals ? Here stands one of the biggest controversies of our era.
Hunting can be considered as one of the main sources of crualty towards animals. However, without hunting, we would have to undergo a drastic change in our feeding habits, and the human race, having fed on meat and other animal products since the beginning of ancient civilizations, could be the prey of many consequences that have yet to be studied by researchers. To keep it real, hunting will never be banned, or prohibited to 100%. However, hunting as an outdoor activity can definitely be completely banned bearing in mind that we live in an age where technology prevails, and instead of hunting out real animals for fun, we could use simulations.
Concerning animal by-products being a huge part of the beauty and cosmetic industry. We can note a huge change in the behaviour of make-up brands and make-up consumers themselves. To be clearer, more and more brands have decided to become “cruelty-free” and “vegan”. This indicates that they do not use animal products in the manufacturing of their products and these products have not been tested on animals.
Extending the issue further, morally speaking, the sight of buffalos and calves being brought to the slaughter house to be butchered, not to say, murdered is one of the most heart-breaking scenes that can be seen on social media promoting animal welfare and veganism.
As much as mindsets vary, it is common sense that veganism does help to alleviate the situation, since slaughter houses and butcheries will only supply meat and animal by-products depending on the consumer demand for these above mentioned.
It is in fact the most effective cycle that the human being has yet to come-up with, in favour of animal welfare. More people deciding to switch to a cruelty-free or vegan lifestyle would mean a strategically lower demand for meat and poultry and consequently, a drastical decrease for demand would be accounted, slaughtering less animals on an anual basis.