Detecting – and eliminating – the cruelty from our lifestyles just got a whole lot easier. From veganism to leather alternatives, abuse in the form of ‘performing’ animals to cruel cosmetic testing on monkeys, the Living Free campaign has all the information you need. The initiative that was launched last April by FIAPO (the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations) is aimed to make information as simple as possible for first-timers who would like to know how they can reduce animal suffering through lifestyle changes.
Living Free campaign manager Richa Thapliyal is starting her 17-day tour on veganism and vegetarianism this week, and will distribute educational pamphlets and meet and interact one-on-one with people on these issues. If you’ve always wanted to volunteer with animal welfare, this is an opportunity to get trained on best practices and techniques for conducting outreach programmes.
“Eating less or no animal products benefits you, the environment and of course – the animals! We realize that it’s not that easy…that individuals have difficulty making the switch”, she says. “But even reduction is appreciated. If the individual’s demand for an animal product goes down, that’s where change begins”.
As a special addition to the campaign this time, when you submit your contact information on the >Living Free website home page , Richa will distribute five educational pamphlets to people on your behalf.
She reveals that while the current tour includes Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jammu, the campaign goes to any city that welcomes it. “We take the movement wherever people are interested. The idea is to strengthen the movement at the grassroots level”. Richa is delighted to report that the campaign in Chennai snowballed to unforeseen proportions and is now a self-sustaining movement.
And if you are already an animal volunteer, or if you’re interested in finding out more about companion animal rescue and similar issues, you can register for FIAPO’s India for Animals conference that’s coming up in Jaipur next month. Scheduled for Sep 12 - 14, the discussions will cover a range of topics such as animal care, first aid, rescue and effective use of social media for animal welfare.
To bring the Living Free campaign to your city, email richa@fiapo.org. Details on the India for Animals (2014) conference are at >www.fiapo.org .
