Kaylah's call to end animal cruelty
My niece and me, bobbing about on a lake
My 13 year old niece wrote a letter to her senator to say yo! Stop the crazy cruelty to animals! But, in much more articulate and classy style. It is such a gorgeous piece of writing that I've asked her if I can share it here and she kindly gave me her blessing - check it out below my ramblings. Kaylah has a huge heart and if this letter is anything to go by, she's destined for great things.
Her letter is compassionate, factual and powerful. If only all humans cared this much about animals. What a wonderful world that would be!
Here she is...guarding lives.
She's vegan - of her own volition - I promise I didn't push her into it! She has a severe allergy to corn and in America, where she lives, they put corn products in just about everything, so her diet already has enough going on, but she still went vegan because she made the connection between the animals she loves and the animals people eat. She's also allergic to soy so she can't even have tofu! I basically mainline the stuff.
She's an American Great, but because half her fam are Brits we like to call her Basically British. She's the best of both worlds. She loves puns, which I like to think is her British-side.
Here's her letter...
My name is Kaylah and I am in 7th grade. I feel strongly about ending animal cruelty. Animal cruelty includes animal testing, animal abuse, over breeding and neglect. This issue is important to me because animal cruelty is happening all around the world, all of the time.
I strongly believe we should ban animal testing, add background checks when purchasing an animal, inspect for neglect around towns and issue applicable fines for animal abusers. I have pets and I would never want them to get hurt. No animals deserve cruelty and I think we can stop it.
Did you know that more than 100 million animals die each year from animal testing? The USA spends about $16 billion each year for animal testing and it is not even a reliable way of testing products. About 92% of medical products tested on animals either don’t work as well on humans, or fail.
I’m writing this letter because I think we can find an alternative to animal testing such as, people who donate their bodies to science, or humans can volunteer. Animal testing is not required for products. It’s just to test that the product is safe.
The world is making positive changes. Animal testing as an example for cosmetic products has been banned in the United Kingdom and all European states. In 2000, California limited the number of animal testing products in the state. I think all of America can ban animal testing.
Animal abuse is all over the world. About every 10-15 seconds an animal is abused. The most common is: 70.1% involves dogs, 20.9% involves cats, and 24.1% involves other animals from horses to guinea pigs. Over-breeding, which is a huge culprit of abuse, is happening all over the world. There is an estimate 10,000 puppy mills in the United States. Puppy mills are factories that breed dogs over and over again for sale. Over 2 million puppies are bred each year. 99% of puppies sold in stores and online come from puppy mills. Although we all love our adorable furry companions, 6 million pets are neglected or left somewhere by themselves.
Multiple organizations such as the PETA, Dodo, ASPCA, the Humane Society, and many more are helping to prevent all of these forms of animal cruelty. I think the United States can step up by putting in place more thorough inspections when a purchase or a rescue occurs. Another great idea would be if the state police conduct inspections in old buildings and other areas that animals have been found neglected.
My final thought on this matter, which is extremely important in the fight against animal abuse, is that if an individual has been abusing an animal, they should not be able to purchase another animal. Small changes towards animal cruelty could make all the difference in the world
Thank you for you time.
Sincerely,
Kaylah
One happy little lady, on a mission to change the world.