Last week, as part of our PSHCE lesson, we attended a talk by Animal Aid, a charity that campaigns peacefully against all animal abuse, and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle. Gail Needham, a representative of Animal Aid, talked to our year group about veganism, animal testing in laboratories and factory farming.
We thoroughly enjoyed the engaging talk which brought us through the many horrors and secrets of animal experiences. At first, we were briefly introduced to Animal Aid and what they do to raise awareness on the situation for animals right now; we were then were given a short quiz that tested our current knowledge of what we thought was happening. There were many facts that we didn’t know, for example, only 45% of chickens are free range, and the rest are cooped up inside!
Veganism was also strongly mentioned and supported throughout the talk - Gail herself is vegan and has been for 35 years! Being vegan means that you don’t eat any products that contain meat or come from animals; this contains milk, eggs, cheese – all of which come from animals - nor wear clothes that include animal skin.
Factory farming was also discussed. It is a horrible practice, with the animals involved giving little to no space to themselves. Some animals are even put into cages that are so small they can’t turn around or lie down.
Additionally, in laboratory testing, many of the animals tested on suffer horrible illnesses and diseases and go through unbelievable pain. We found it shocking that most of this pain is for nothing, since reports show that 9/10 tests on animals fail when tested on humans.
Nearer to the end, we were taken through a captivating video that explained to us the horrors and the beauties of the animal kingdom, how dreadfully they were being treated but also how we can help them, by reducing our meat intake, donating to charities similar to Animal Aid and by raising awareness!
Isra and Joey, Year 8
