J.Lo and the Lowdown on Fur

Here's the most notable thing to have happened to me in the last 2 weeks, and I swear, I am changed. Why? how? I checked out the P.E.T.A. website after work last Friday, before going to class. Just so you know, other than the very middle part, "Let me Tell you" and the very end of this post, everything typed with color is a link.

The first thing I viewed on "Peta TV" was nothing short of an absolute and total nightmare... J.Lo and the Lowdown on Fur. I will not go into any details - just see for yourself and I swear to you, you'll NEVER EVER WANT TO BUY ANYTHING MADE OF FUR! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! Flat out, I burst into tears. And then, a total glutton for punishment, I watched two additional videos from Peta investigations, one of a pig farm featuring James Cromwell as the narrator, and the other for a cattle 'processing' plant called AgriProcessors.
The cows: the behavior of the machinery operators!?!? I was completely stunned and thought, as I continued to cry, what happened to these people??? for them to be so cruel and so casual, and completely detached from this 'process,' even making fun and light of what was happening? And then, the video featuring a pig farm and a poor, lame sow, subject to a totally unheard of use for an Exacto-size knife...
The pigs: I never understood before now how anyone could faint from either seeing or hearing 'bad news', no matter how horrific, but I do know now. The strength of my physiological response to this video was overwhelming; honestly, I began to black out! I tried to rest my head on my desk, as the video and its sound continued to play, but even the SOUNDS of what was happening!?!? I felt myself weaken further, my head swimming, vision failing and my stomach began to churn violently. I had to turn it off.

Okay, now why in heaven's name would I want to share this with anyone? better yet, include links to the video???
LET ME TELL YOU...
Sure, ignorance is bliss, HOWEVER, I'd much rather be informed and know what role I may play in any of this, no matter how insignificant. I want to be as far REMOVED from it all, the best I can. And knowing now what I know, I can make an informed decision as to how I want to conduct myself. MOREOVER, I have a NEW FOUND APPRECIATION for all living things, my own sweet boys/pets, my family, my own livelihood, and the power I can have as a consumer, if I SIMPLY CHOOSE to buy or NOT to buy.

On Monday, I went back to the Peta TV website and watched more. Yes, I subjected myself to more, but I wanted to know what else is done ~ and let me tell you, here's what I now also know:

With the exception of fishies, I will NEVER purchase an animal from a pet store. I will NEVER allow an animal of mine to have a litter, when there are millions of shelter animals put to death each year; too many animals who go without a home and they either die on the streets or die in shelters. And I will avoid at all costs placing lost animals in a shelter...I'll put it upon myself to either find lost/stray animals their home, or find them a new one...real soon, I'll post a related story to this.

I AM A PLEATHER GIRL - NO MORE LEATHER FOR ME, as best I can avoid it. I realize this one may be really hard, since leather is a very common retail product, BUT one of my most complemented jackets is a pleather leather-look-alike. IT CAN BE DONE! And No more wool. There are plenty of synthetics out there, either equivalent or superior to wool products... AND although this will be difficult to adhere to at all times, I've requested a list of anti-animal testing manufacturers (here's a partial list of some that do animal testing) to buy my needed stuff from. Just to name one, No more Proctor & Gamble.

Honestly, I can't begin to list everything I've learned and just how much it's changed me or what I will now choose to do, and what I will avoid.
BECOME INFORMED.