Animals Victories in 2013

From Meatless Mondays to “Ag-gag” bills being blocked, here are a few other successes of 2013:

• The number of animals being eaten domestically and internationally is being reduced. Nine billion farm animals are raised for food in the United States alone. Many animal welfare organizations pushed for “Meatless Mondays” to be adopted by restaurants, schools, and businesses. The Los Angeles Unified School District alone has accounted for 34 million meals each year going from meat-based to meat-free. Even master chef Mario Batali has agreed to make Meatless Mondays part of his menu. Though Mario is a big meat lover, he is embracing Meatless Monday in all of his 14 restaurants across the county. And not only will switching one of your meat-meals to a vegetarian meal once a week make a difference in the lives of animals, it will also help the environment. The Environmental Defense Fund states that if every American had one meat-free meal per week, it would have the same environmental impact as taking more than 5 million cars off our roads!

• Animal testing for cosmetics is being reduced. This past year, the European Union put a complete ban on the sale of cosmetics developed through animal testing, and China is considering an end to mandatory animal testing on cosmetics. Starting in June of 2014, animal testing will no longer be mandatory for “non-specialized cosmetics,” including shampoo, soaps, and certain skin products manufactured in China, according to a document posted on the website of the China Food and Drug Administration earlier this month.