Hey! How do I look?
Good I hope.
Well, I feel good
because no animals were harmed in the making of this stylish outfit.
Every year millions of animals are killed in the clothing industry.
And it will truly shock you to see how they are abused, in the name of fashion.
I'm Christina and I'm here to show that animals are like you, only different.
Animals used for clothing.
Fur.
Fur is dead.
Not only is the fur industry dying,
someone else also had to die for that fur in the first place.
Whether the animal that it came from was kept in a cage on a fur farm or trapped in the wild.
Every coat, keychain, piece of fur trim or fluff on a shoe
caused an animal tremendous suffering and took away a life.
Like the lives of rabbits,
who hop around excitedly when they're happy.
Or the lives of foxes,
who can make twenty-eight different types of calls to communicate with other foxes.
Or the lives of coyotes, who use teamwork and form packs with other coyotes.
Yay teamwork!
Haha! Yay teamwork!
[laughs]
Yay teamwork!
[laughs]
Or the lives of beavers,
who stay close to their offspring for life.
Aww. Or the lives of bears.
Minks.
Racoons.
Seals.
Or even dogs or cats.
In other words
$#@!? fur.
Leather.
Ah, there's nothing like feeling the warm sun on my face
and that's just how other animals feel too.
So it breaks my heart to learn that every year, the global leather industry
slaughters more than a billion animals.
Including cows, who are known to cry for days when their babies are taken away from them shortly after birth
to be used for veal or milk.
Which we can all empathize with, right?
I'm not a mom yet but personally, I'd cut the mother$#@!?er who tried to steal my baby from me.
Come at me $#@!?
Also, leather is a co-product of the meat industry.
Which means is someone buys a jacket made of cow skin, that money likely pays for the horrors of factory farming.
Including castration, branding, tail docking and de-horning.
All without painkillers.
I definitely wouldn't want any of that to happen to me, or you.
So, why would I pay for it to happen to someone else.
Wool.
Shearing sheep for wool,
It's a living nightmare.
Because shearers are usually paid by volume, rather than by the hour they often work hastily,
leading to frequent injuries to the sheep.
And strips of skin, even teats, tails and their ears are cut off during shearing.
Every year, millions of Australian sheep are loaded onto extremely crowded cargo ships,
and sent on weeks or months long journeys to the Middle East or North Africa
where their throats are cut.
Often while they're still conscious.
Like us, sheep are sensitive, emotionally-complex animals
who are terrified when they're separated from their social groups or approached by strangers.
Now moving on to... I'm sorry, can we stop for a second?
See the thing is, I can go on and on about each and every animal hurt and killed for clothing.
And trust me, there are a lot.
But I think you get my point.
Right?
Yeah.
The truth is, we don't have that much time together on this pale blue dot floating around in space.
So why not treat each other with respect and compassion.
And like many other discussions about equality and freedom, it all comes back to the golden rule:
Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
In other words, be a good person.
So how about this: When you're out there shopping, looking for something to keep you warm or looking cool.
Shop for something cruelty-free instead.
The good news is that vegan clothing, shoes and accessories are easier to buy than ever before.
Remember to check the labels, so you don't buy animal-derived materials.
In summary, avoid these:
And look for these:
For their sake, please.
Thank you for remembering that animals are like you, only different.
Thanks for watching! Be sure to subscribe and see you next time.