Wow, this is a great sketch!  It combines a humorous look at how horrible farm conditions are for animals, but it isn’t didactic in any way whatsoever.  It shows a waiter explaining the beef “special” at a restaurant in all its inhumane detail in a cheery, upbeat manner.  It’s pretty damn awesome!  If you’re a humane omnivore/vegetarian/vegan, this is a great sketch to show people your reasons in a lighthearted manner.

(Warning: it’s a little disturbing — if you’re really squeamish, don’t watch.  I’m pretty squeamish about animal torture, and I made it through.  There are no horrible photographs.)

(If the link there isn’t working, click here and go to the 2:50 mark.  If Hulu doesn’t work for you at all, it’s Comedy Inc’s Season 1 Episode 3 starting at 2:50 minutes in.)

The things I liked about this lotion:

It’s a nice medium-weight lotion that soaks in within a few minutes.  It has a mild self-tanner odor — not horrifically strong.  It did give me a nice, non-orange, even layer of tan.  This surprised me, because I’ve read a lot of reviews of this lotion, and many people say it did absolutely nothing for them.  However, I suspect those people do not have fish-belly white legs like I do!  Plus I only used it on areas to even out my farmer-tan — legs, neck, and upper arms — I wasn’t looking to enter Dancing With the Stars anytime soon.  So yes, this “light bronzing” color works great if you’re desperately, desperately pale, and you’re just looking to look a bit more alive, perhaps like you spent the afternoon in the sun.  If you already have a healthy glow, or you wish to look like you spent a week on a beach in Mexico, I’d suggest going for the darker bronze formulation.

(I applied a tiny amount to my inner arm and after about fifteen minutes a nice, non-orange tan streak appeared on my inner arm.  I suggest everyone trying out this lotion take this precaution as well.)

The things I did not like about this lotion:

Overall, I think it’s a little too high maintenance for me.  I found it oddly stressful to try to apply it without streaking — I spent five minutes obsessively making sure I was getting the lotion on without leaving any gaps, and then five minutes wandering around in old pajamas I wouldn’t mind getting tanning streaks on before being able to get on with my life.  Whereas it usually takes me about 15 seconds to slap lotion on my legs and dress.  Also, the effects lasted maybe a few days, and I always smelled faintly kind of like self-tanner.  That really just did not work for me.  Other problems — while the pump dispenser is very convenient while the bottle is full, it means a lot of product gets lost when the bottle is almost empty.  I’d prefer some kind of squeeze tube instead — it would be less wasteful.  It was also a little expensive — I think I paid about $12 for 8oz at Whole Foods when I bought it, and I think I got maybe ten applications out of it.  If I’d been thinking of tanning more than my legs and upper arms, I’d have gotten a lot fewer out of it.

Overall: it’s a nice self-tanner lotion that I think would really appeal to people who are more high-maintenance than I am.  If you are very, very pale, don’t mind spending 15 minutes every few days applying this self-tanning lotion, don’t mind spending $12 for 8oz of lotion, and would like to look lightly tanned, this will be a great resource for you.  So I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Alba Botanica Light Bronzing Very Emollient Body Lotion is available at Amazon for $15.07.

(Alba Botanica products are 100%-animal-testing-free, but they are not organic, nor are they vegan.  They are vegetarian, however.)

Ingredients:

Purified Water, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Cyclomethicone, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Dimethicone, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Dihydroxyacetone, Erythrulose, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract*, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract*, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopherol, Isopropyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Steareth-20, Xanthan Gum, Lactic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance (1), Amyl Cinnamal(2), Benzyl Benzoate(2), Benzyl Salicylate(2), Citral(2), Citronellol(2), Limonene(2), Eugenol(2), Farnesol(2), Geraniol(2), Linalool(2)

* Certified Organic
1) Natural Fragrance Derived from Essential Oils
2) Component of Natural Essential Oils

I’ve been going through my backlog of HSUS emails and I found this one which is really inspirational — it’s about a veterinary student — Ms. Nicole Putney — who managed to change her veterinary school’s use of live, healthy dogs as surgery practice animals.  Basically, the veterinary school would pick up a bunch of abandoned dogs from the nearby pound, keep the dogs in cages for a while, before performing three (three!!) unnecessary surgeries on each dog and then euthanizing the dogs.  It was good practice for the veterinary students — they got to try out difficult anesthetization and surgical techniques on these homeless dogs before being entrusted with the dogs of paying customers.

Anyway, Ms. Putney convinced the people who run the anesthesiology course at the veterinary school to become more humane — now, instead of mutilating these dogs for three surgeries and then killing them, the third and fourth year students get to practice neutering/spaying shelter dogs before returning the dogs to the shelters where they will (hopefully!) be adopted out to kind families.

Unfortunately Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine still has a ways to go — it still does the do-three-unnecessary-surgeries-on-healthy-dogs-and-then-kill-them routine for the freshman anatomy course and the soft tissue surgery elective.  Ms. Putney believes that more than 20 healthy dogs are killed each year for these courses.  She is working to implement an Educational Memorial Program (EMP) — where people would donate dead dogs so veterinary students could practice surgeries.  I hope it works out!

I can only hope Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine also looks into these other awesome humane alternatives progressive veterinary schools around the country are starting to adopt:

• Alternatives in Education Database
• Alternatives Databases
• Educational Memorial, or Willed Body Donation, Programs
• Biomedical Research | Medical Training Using Animals
• Humane Teaching Methods

Anyway, it’s a great article — I’m so thrilled by it!  It was originally printed in the Student Humane Society Veterinary Medicine Association newsletter in July 2009 under the title Vet Student Recognized for Thinking Outside the Box:

Vet Student Recognized For Thinking “Outside the Box”

July 7, 2009

When Nicole Putney began her studies at Washington State University (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine two years ago, she knew she would have issues with the use of animals for training.

At the top of Nicole’s list of concerns were the use of colony dogs—dogs housed at the university and used repeatedly for teaching purposes—and terminal surgeries, in which animals are euthanized rather than recovered after surgery.

Often, students who advocate for more humane veterinary training face opposition by faculty and students who don’t want to change the status quo, but Nicole broke through the roadblocks she encountered and inspired some major changes at WSU this year.

Thinking Outside the Box

	Nicole Putney with her rescued pug Smokey and Olive, a former colony dog at WSU who she adopted. ©Matthew Lapora

In recognition of her work, Nicole was awarded the Outside the Boxscholarship in April. The WSU scholarship—created by Dr. Nancy Merrill, a 1997 WSU graduate—is awarded to a veterinary student who has initiated positive change on campus by thinking “outside the box.”

Dr. Merrill says she created the award because she “believe[s] it is important to be involved and to improve whatever you do, wherever you are, even if it sometimes upsets the status quo.”

Nicole’s instructors and veterinary colleagues agree that the award is a perfect fit for this dedicated veterinary student.

“Nicole is tireless in both her pursuit of compassionate care and in her desire to recruit others to the same mission,” commented Dr. Tammy Grubb, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at WSU.

Dr. Tracie Romsland, a clinical pathology resident at WSU who worked with Nicole in class, provided some additional insight on why Nicole was honored.

“Humane education should be at the forefront of the veterinary curriculum. Nicole has been very positive in her interactions and has worked hard to come up with solutions rather than just state dissatisfaction with the status quo. It makes such a difference to be able to provide possible solutions to some of the challenges we face, rather than to just criticize.”

The biggest change Nicole has been involved with is WSU’s decision to stop using colony dogs in its required veterinary courses, effective next year. Traditionally, colony dogs were used in two required courses—anesthesiology and theriogenology—and after three procedures, the dogs were euthanized.

Knowing there were more humane options that would allow students the same learning opportunities, she worked with faculty to implement alternative options. In the anesthesiology course, Nicole helped create an alternative track in which shelter dogs are anesthetized to be neutered by third- or fourth-year students, and then returned for adoption.

Dr. Grubb believes the changes will give the university “a unique chance to re-develop our laboratories with what we hope will be intellectually stimulating and effective learning modules.”

More To Be Done

WSU has made great strides in advancing humane veterinary training by eliminating the use of colony dogs in required courses, but there are still some changes to be made. Terminal procedures are still in place in one soft tissue surgery elective course, and while the alternative of a willed body cadaver option is available to students, few select this option.

Also, Nicole believes approximately 20 shelter animals are used yearly for the freshman anatomy course, and she feels the implementation of an Educational Memorial Program (EMP) would meet the school’s need for both the anatomy and other elective courses by providing donated cadavers.

She has shared her thoughts and resources for starting a program with faculty, and while there is some support for creating an EMP, the general consensus is that it isn’t a viable option for WSU at this time.

Nicole still hopes an EMP is in the school’s future, and she plans to write her senior paper about the history of terminal surgeries and available alternatives in order to inform future vet students about other training options.

Perseverance Pays Off

Thanks in no small part to Nicole’s perseverance, WSU has made important advancements in the humane care and treatment of animals used in veterinary training.

“She was instrumental in bringing this issue to the forefront,” asserts Dr. Romsland. “We are lucky to not only have proactive, motivated students such as Nicole, but also receptive and progressive faculty!”

The changes with which Nicole has been involved inspire hope that progress toward more humane training at WSU will continue.

Nicole Putney is a veterinary student and HSVMA student chapter representative at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She will graduate in 2011.

I received a Dear Emily email asking about advice to find some 100%-cruelty-free products — if you know of any blotting papers or spray-on conditioner/detanglers made by companies on this list, please write in!

Hi Emily,

I wanted to pick your brain to see if you know of some products that I may not.

I am looking for cruelty-free blotting papers for oily skin.  I used to use the Clean & Clear ones, but they are made by Johnson & Johnson.  Neutrogena also makes them… strike two.  The Body Shop carries them, but they are $12-13 per package… yikes!  I hate spending that on something that I could probably live without.  I recently saw some at a beauty store made by Palladio Beauty Group.  The package says that it is not tested on animals, but you and I both know that means nothing.  Have you ever heard of this company?  Do you know of any other cruelty-free blotting papers?

The second product I’m looking for, is spray-on conditioner/detangler.  I used to buy Pantene’s, but since P&G became #1 enemy in my book, I can’t seem to find any official cruelty-free options.  I found one at Whole Foods made by Jane Carter Solution.  It also says that they do not test on animals, but cannot find them on the CCIC list.  I bought it b/c I’d rather see my dollars going to a small possibly cruelty-free company than P&G.  Have you heard of Jane Carter Solution?  Do you know of any other cruelty-free detanglers?

Thanks for your help,
J.

Hi!

Hmm, yeah, I’m not sure of any 100% cruelty-free spray on conditioners/detanglers besides the Paul Mitchell detangler, which I tried once long ago and it seemed to be okay, but nothing special.  Though that was a long time ago — they may have reformulated by now!  I’ll ask around about cruelty-free spray on conditioners/detanglers too.

So. Readers?  Are there any blotting papers or conditioners/detanglers out there made by companies on the 100%-animal-testing-free list?  Please chime in — let’s help another fellow anti-P&Ger out!

It’s National Day of Mourning for Animals in Laboratories.  Let’s all raise a glass for those poor animals who have been tortured for science despite the fact that there are non-animal-alternatives, and they’re even better than animal tests.  Here’s hoping that in the future these poor animals will be protected and cared for the way they should be, and that more people will speak out against the abuse.

If you’d like to help, Stop Animal Exploitation Now — the nonprofit that is organizing the national day of mourning — is holding a variety of protests around the country today you can join, and it lists several letters you can send that will help animals in laboratories.

(You can also continue to only buy 100%-animal-testing-free cosmetics/household products, 50%-cruelty-free pet foods, and only support charities with the humane seal!  These measures really help.  I swear!)

(Oh wait — and raise your children to regard animal testing, whether it is “for science” or not, as a terrible, horrible thing, that should at least be minimized.  Maybe they won’t grow up to be like the Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, who apparently is responsible for a policy of automatic 75% reduction of fines for not following the rules of the Animal Welfare Act.  Basically, this means that companies that don’t treat their animals with the minimum of care while they’re using them to test pharmaceuticals/cosmetics get a slap on the wrist.  Seriously, can you imagine?  What a heartless person — not even letting poor lab monkeys who are tortured on a daily basis a baseline of care.  Sheesh.)

Sorry to have been awol for so long — I’ve been spending the past two weeks falling asleep over my laptop while attempting to blog late at night.  However, things have calmed down and I have free time again!  I’m going to go start on the comment queue and my huge backload of email — I’m so glad to see so many great cruelty-free questions in my inbox!  You guys rock.

These are really amazing cookies — I highly recommend them! Uncle Eddie really knows what he’s doing. If you like salty-sweet flavor combinations, you’ll really like these. They have a spicy-sweet molasses flavor, a soft chewy texture, and a sprinkling of salt and large crunchy flakes of (what looks like) raw sugar on top. (But what must be evaporated cane juice since these cookies aren’t made with sugar?) These cookies outcompete every molasses-based cookie out there on supermarket shelves right now, and I’m comparing them to all nonvegan molasses cookies I’ve ever tried in my life as well. (Though nothing beats homemade molasses cookies, I’m sure we can all agree!)

I started buying Uncle Eddie’s molasses cookies a few months ago — and I have not stopped buying them since. My trips to Whole Foods are not complete without a bag of these. I’ve branched out and tried a few of the other Uncle Eddie’s flavors, and some other vegan cookie brands out there, but overall Uncle Eddie makes the best vegan cookies out there, and the molasses ones are the best of all those flavors. (Though I’m a little disappointed that I never see a bunch of the flavors listed on the Uncle Eddie’s website at my local Whole Foods — my Whole Foods does not carry Cocoa Spice or Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, nor does it carry Uncle Eddie’s muffins, candy, brownies, or cookie dough (!) which I’d really like to try. I should really start lobbying my Whole Foods to carry those as well!)

Uncle Eddies vegan molasses cookies are available at Whole Foods for $4-5 if I recall correctly, or at Amazon for $31.49 (4 bags).

Ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic molasses, organic palm fruit oil, organic evaporated cane juice, non-gmo soy lecithin, vanilla extract, organic unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, sea salt, organic cinnamon and organic ginger. Contains Wheat and Soy. Allergens: Contains wheat and soy. Made in a faculty that process peanuts and tree nuts. Nutritional information.

Good news!  I’ve updated the 100%-animal-testing-free list — there are now 827 animal-testing-free companies! — and have marked the vegan companies on it in green.  I hope this is useful to those of you looking to buy animal-testing-free AND vegan cosmetics/household products.

The companies that are marked as being vegan were taken from the Vegan Society, Vegan Action, ChooseCrueltyFree, and PETA lists of vegan companies.  If you know of any other vegan registration lists, please drop me a line!

Everyone reading this — if you could take a look at the list and tell me if there are any errors on it, I’d very much appreciate it.  Also — if you could tell me if this is this useful to you, I’d very much appreciate it as well.  For next year — are there any changes you would make to the list?  Would you prefer one list that has only vegan companies on it instead?  Are there any other reputable certification lists out there you’d like to have noted as well?  Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, EcoCert, etc?

Emily,

Good morning! I’m writing to ask you a question about Innova Pet Food. About four months, ago I switched to Halo for animal rights reasons. I had been interested in Innova (my neighbor gave me a bag of cat treats and my cat loves them), but I didn’t see them on Peta’s cruelty-free list. I looked at the Innova website and they had answers about the animal testing issue that I was not sure how to interpret or believe. I know you’re very busy, but, when you have a chance, I’d really appreciate any help making heads or tails of this. While I am interested in the food, I won’t buy it if it does support animal testing.

Thank you for your time,
Innova-questioner

Innova Animal Testing Description

Natura Pet Products believes strongly in the importance of nutritional testing to validate our products and to support the development of new, innovative and healthful diets. However, we have never been comfortable with the care and treatment of animals at most independent facilities. As a result, we realized that the only way to reconcile both issues was to build our own facility and manage the care and treatment of the test animals ourselves.

The Belfield Pet Food Research & Development Center is a humane, non-invasive testing facility which was built near our manufacturing plant in Nebraska. The Belfield Center sits on 8.5 acres. The building itself is 11,500 square feet under roof and is climate controlled year-round with 3 large HVAC units. There are 56 indoor runs with full access to outdoor runs and 2 x 3000 square foot dog exercise yards. There is a cat play room and Natura’s “Dog of the Week” room, which is a fully decorated home living room which is being utilized by a different canine resident each week. All residents of the Belfield Center have regular play time and frequent interaction with the staff. Toys of all kinds, cat scratching posts and cat furniture is available for all residents. Animals living at the Belfield Center come to us from a variety of sources, including rescue groups, breeders and private homes.

All animals in the facility are cared for humanely and it is important for our customers to know that all living and test spaces far exceed the minimum requirements set by the USDA. It is also important for everyone to know that all work done at the Belfield Center is non-invasive; the dog and cat residents serve us to eat pet food. Period. A practicing local veterinarian has been contracted to provide regular health care to all animals. The animals are cared for by a conscientious staff of 4 full time staff members, including one staff member with veterinary technician experience.

TESTING POLICIES

1. All testing will be non-invasive to the animals and consists only of palatability, stool quality, protocol feeding studies or other similarly designed studies for nutritional substantiation.

2. All animals will be cared for as if they were pets in our home, including interaction and socialization.

3. We will always far exceed minimum standards established by the Animal Welfare Act of the US, the US Department of Agriculture.

4. We will not conduct any study requiring or resulting in the euthanasia of cats or dogs.

5. We will ensure the humane treatment of cats and dogs that reside in the facility and provide for animal well-being, socialization and husbandry in a manner compatible with our own philosophy and conscience.

6. We will require that all residents have regular and timely veterinary check-ups. Any animal that shows signs of illness will be provided veterinary care immediately.

7. Resident animals will be adopted-out to private homes following their retirement from the Belfield Center. The adoption process will begin while the animals are still well within their productive and active years.

8. Natura will continue to keep an interest in our “retired” residents, and will support their feeding and health care for a period of time after adoption. Natura employees, dealers and customers will be given first priority to adopt these animals.

9. The Belfield Center has an advisory panel made up of pet care professionals, community representatives, and veterinary practitioners for the purpose of routine facility tours and oversight. Dr Wendell O. Belfield will serve on the Animal Care & Use Committee which meets at least semi-annually.

10. Extra care will be taken with all new animals upon their arrival at the Belfield Center to minimize the stress of their relocation and to encourage quick socialization with the other animals and Natura staff. Each animal at the Belfield Center will have a name, not a number.

Why they’re not on the Peta’s list

Natura will not be added to the PETA list. Although we respect the philosophies behind the PETA organization, we do not agree with some of the methods they employ. Please understand that companies that are not on the PETA list are not necessarily doing any testing on animals. They may simply have chosen, for any number of reasons, not to take part in the PETA survey.

Dear Innova-questioner,

I’m so sorry to take so long to get back to you!  Thank you for your lovely email — I’m always glad to find another person who has switched to Halo for animal rights reasons!  I’m very impressed.

So, personally — just for me — I don’t support Innova.  I dislike animal testing in all shapes and forms (as you can tell!) and I do not support keeping animals in cages the way Innova does — I fully believe all “house” animals should live in homes with owners.  I do not support keeping dogs and cats in non-home environments.  It breaks my heart to think of those dogs and cats not living in a home with people.  I think they eventually get “zoochosis” from it.  I think it’s very nice that Innova doesn’t pour poisons in those dogs and cats eyes the way other worse petfood companies do, but it’s not enough for me.

My personal rule of thumb is to replace the word “dog/cat” with “child.”  Do you think some children should be sacrificed on the altar of nutrition testing — which I strongly suspect is petfood companies trying out cheaper weird food additives instead of using actual food that has sustained dogs and cats for thousands of years — so that more children have “better” nutrition?  Would you feel happy reading these two paragraphs?:

“Natura Pet Products believes strongly in the importance of nutritional testing to validate our products and to support the development of new, innovative and healthful diets. However, we have never been comfortable with the care and treatment ofchildren at most independent facilities. As a result, we realized that the only way to reconcile both issues was to build our own facility and manage the care and treatment of the test children ourselves.

The Belfield Pet Food Research & Development Center is a humane, non-invasive testing facility which was built near our manufacturing plant in Nebraska. The Belfield Center sits on 8.5 acres. The building itself is 11,500 square feet under roof and is climate controlled year-round with 3 large HVAC units. There are 56 indoor runs with full access to outdoor runs and 2 x 3000 square foot child exercise yards. There is a child play room and Natura’s “Child of the Week” room, which is a fully decorated home living room which is being utilized by a different child resident each week. All resident children of the Belfield Center have regular play time and frequent interaction with the staff. Toys of all kinds, cat scratching posts and cat furniture is available for all residents. Children living at the Belfield Center come to us from a variety of sources, including rescue groups, breeders and private homes.”

(I also find the “dog of the week” thing amusing.  That’s very anthropomorphic of Innova.  The best thing about dogs is they don’t care about being the “dog of the week” — they just want human care and attention.  I’m also concerned they don’t say how long they keep the animals at the shelter — months?  years?  That would be sad.)

I also believe most pet foods are made from products that dogs and cats have been eating for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and that they don’t need animal testing.  So I disagree with Innova about the importance of nutritional testing.  If it were so important, why don’t the 14 petfood companies that don’t use animal-testing have problems?  It’s a suspicious argument.

That being said, Innova is much better than those other horrible invasive and painful animal-testing companies like Iams, so it’s definitely the lesser of a bunch of evils.  If your cats really like the treats, it’s not the end of the world to buy Innova products.  Also, it’s all shades of grey really — many (most?) petfood companies, even if they do not perform invasive animal-testing or have in-house noninvasive animal testing, apparently like to give away their product to independent shelters and see how those animals do.  (I’m a little confused by this actually — I haven’t been able to find anyone to give me a straight answer as to how involved that sort of testing is.  I know many pet shelters rely on food donations, but don’t report on its effects to petfood companies.  Iams, for example, gives away a lot of petfood to independent shelters with no strings attached — I’m sure Iams gets tax deductions for it, finds it a nice way to get rid of product lines that didn’t quite take off, and it’s all a profitable business ploy so that people take home pets who are already used to Iams foods and then, Iams hopes, those people keep buying Iams food.)

Also, the fact that Innova feels it’s too good for PETA’s lovely cruelty-free petfood list REALLY annoys me.  I love PETA’s cruelty-free petfood list — it is a lifesaver.

Gosh, at this point I’d tell you about PETA’s cruelty-free list of petfoods, Newman’s Own, and Vegepet but it sounds like you’re already tremendously knowledgeable about that sort of thing!  Again, thanks for writing in, it’s always nice to hear from people who really care about animal testing!

Regards,

Emily

(Since I know some of the readers will chime in here about how people should really consider animal-testing-free AND vegan petfoods as the ultimate cruelty-free petfoods, here is a list of the vegan petfoods listed on PETA’s animal-testing-free list.  The most popular vegan/animal-testing-free petfood is Evolution, but there are others such as Bone Vivant, Boston Baked Bonz, Max & Ruffy’s, Natural Balance (has one vegan product line), Natural Life (has one vegan product line), Onesta Organics, PetGuard, V-dogfood, Vegepet, Want a Cookie (has one vegan product line), and Wow-Bow Distributors (has one vegan product line).

(Since I may receive further questioning on whether or not dogs and/or cats can eat vegan food, here are some answers.  Can dogs go vegan with no ill-health effects?  Yes.  Cats – yes and no.)