Buzz
A Hollywood star sharing conservative views in a liberal-dominated industry. An educator punished for referring to a student by their assumed pronoun. A chef facing backlash for allegedly appropriating culture through cooking a traditional dish. It's clear that cancel culture – the movement to destroy someone's reputation or career over perceived offenses – is intensifying.
In a society fixated on trivial slights, it's astonishing how many significant transgressions remain overlooked. The list is so extensive that a separate category could be dedicated solely to animal-related wrongdoings. And we’ve done just that.
Below are ten examples that might redirect the woke crowd’s attention from online virtue signaling to more pressing issues.
10. The Slaughter of Polar Bears
Aren’t polar bears already burdened with enough challenges without the added threat of reckless trophy hunters? As Arctic sea ice, essential for their hunting, resting, mating, and denning, continues to vanish due to climate change, their population has dwindled to fewer than 25,000 in the wild. This dire situation prompted the US to list them as endangered in 2008, and their circumstances have only worsened since.
Given this, the fact that people still hunt polar bears for sport and profit is deeply troubling. Even more shocking is WHERE this remains legal. While Russia, with its macho leader and love for bare-chested photo-ops, might be expected to allow such practices, the prime destination for senseless polar bear killings is Canada. Yes, Canada: known for its clean air, universal healthcare, and, unfortunately, polar bear slaughter.
Why target them? Because killing a polar bear can turn someone into not just a heartless individual but a wealthy one. Polar bear pelts can sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and both hunting and trading their skins remain inexplicably legal.
According to Freedom of Information disclosures, nearly 9,000 polar bears were killed by hunters in the Arctic between 2007 and 2016. Since 1960, over 50,000 polar bears have been slaughtered – double the current surviving population.
9. The Brutality of Seal Clubbing
Despite their reputation for politeness and generosity, Canadians can be surprisingly ruthless when it comes to certain practices.
Canada’s yearly commercial seal hunt stands as the largest massacre of marine mammals worldwide. The primary victims are harp seals, arguably some of the cutest creatures on the planet. Shockingly, around 97% of the slaughtered harp seals are pups under three months old. The tools used for this brutal act include wooden clubs, hakapiks (large ice-pick-like tools), and firearms.
These hunts mainly take place on ice floes in two areas off Canada’s East Coast: the Gulf of St. Lawrence, west of Newfoundland and east of the Magdalen Islands, and a region known as the “Front,” northeast of Newfoundland. This mass killing exacerbates the harp seals’ already precarious situation due to shrinking sea ice.
This grotesque tradition is largely carried out by local fishermen, who sell the seals’ fur and oils to boost their earnings. Around 6,000 fishermen participate annually. According to the Humane Society, over ONE MILLION seals have been clubbed, stabbed, or shot to death in just the past FIVE YEARS.
The justified global outrage has led to a well-funded Canadian government campaign spreading misinformation. What’s next for Canada? Perhaps drowning baby unicorns?
8. Eyeglass Frames Made from Sea Turtles
“Comfort and elegance are inseparable,” states the website of Maison Bonnet, a French manufacturer. With questionable ethics and equally questionable English, it adds: “They create a perfect balance between the design and the wearer’s face, offering the true luxury of handcrafted eyewear. Traditional craftsmanship is vital. Only skilled hands can honor a unique piece.”
Balance? Honor? I doubt the sea turtle killed to produce these frames would agree. Maison Bonnet’s acceptance of this practice is evident as it boasts famous clients, including two French Presidents: Francois Mitterrand and, more recently, Jacques Chirac.
The ongoing legality of crafting items from sea turtle shells in some regions has, predictably, fueled illegal poaching elsewhere. For instance, last year, reports revealed traffickers capturing and exporting thousands of sea turtles from Florida to Asia and other markets, where some sell for up to $10,000. Over time, this trade has led to the deaths of millions of turtles to produce unnecessary items like combs, eyeglass frames, guitar picks, ornaments, and cheap jewelry.
While using animals for food or clothing might be justifiable, is it necessary to create trivial items from their remains? Maison Bonnet insists its process “fully respects the natural life cycle of sea turtles.” Unfortunately, no sea turtles were available to confirm this claim.
7. Products Made from Ivory
Given the global outrage surrounding the ivory trade – a pressing issue due to the critically endangered animals, particularly elephants, whose deaths sustain it – one might assume that underdeveloped nations with weak law enforcement would struggle the most to curb this internationally prohibited practice.
Surprisingly, however, Japan, one of the world’s most advanced and law-abiding countries, is a major contributor to the illegal ivory trade. The reason is surprisingly trivial: a signature-replacement tool known as hanko. These small stamps are used instead of signatures for tasks ranging from opening bank accounts to signing employment contracts.
Hideki Arami, a third-generation hanko carver with a shop in Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya district, explains that the finest hanko ivory comes from the center of the tusk, where the material is dense and flawless. What a noble justification for pushing multiple species to the brink of extinction.
To sell ivory legally, sellers must prove it is not newly sourced, meaning it was obtained before the 1989 poaching ban. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, while Japanese law requires ivory tusks to be registered before sale, the process remains notoriously lax. Sellers often don’t need to provide verifiable evidence of how, where, or when the tusks were acquired, allowing illegal ivory to infiltrate Japan’s legal market.
6. Animal-Derived Ingredients in Perfumes
If you wear perfume, chances are you’re dousing yourself in liquified animal extracts. Many fragrances still rely on animal-derived components as key ingredients.
Take civet, for instance, a cat-like creature with a long tail and pointed snout found in Africa and parts of Asia. Its perineal glands secrete a thick, buttery-yellow paste that darkens over time. While the undiluted substance smells foul and repulsive, it transforms into a floral aroma when diluted. Civets are “farmed and harvested” (meaning bred in captivity and slaughtered in large numbers) in Ethiopia, with their secretions exported to perfume makers in Europe and North America.
Do you enjoy leathery scents? If so, you might be wearing beaver castoreum. Traditional leathery fragrances often use castoreum, extracted from the castor sacs of beavers, which they use to mark their territory. After killing the beavers, harvesters dry the sacs, which resemble dried figs, and the paste inside develops a sweet, leather-like aroma.
Another animal contributing to perfumes is the hyrax, an African mammal resembling a large guinea pig. Its secretions, known as hyraceum or “African stone,” form when its urine and feces (deposited in communal areas) fossilize over hundreds of thousands of years. Fortunately for hyraxes, this lengthy process means their role in perfumery doesn’t require their death.
These animal-derived ingredients were once heavily used in iconic fragrances like Miss Dior and No 5, and they remain a staple in many perfumes across the industry today.
5. Bone China
Bone china is a porcelain variety crafted with a substantial portion – at least 30%, often nearing 50% – of animal bone ash. The inclusion of bone enhances the ceramic’s durability, providing superior resistance to chipping, along with exceptional whiteness and translucency. This added strength allows bone china to be fashioned into thinner designs compared to other porcelain types.
Since its invention in the early 19th century, bone china has been closely associated with British craftsmanship, often referred to as “English porcelain.” Typically, the bone ash is sourced from cows, though pig bones are sometimes used, leading Middle Eastern manufacturers to produce halal-certified versions using only cow bones.
Is bone china ethical? Advocates claim it utilizes bones from animals already destined for meat production. Critics, however, argue that while it’s less egregious than hunting polar bears for sport or killing sea turtles for eyewear, bone china is still an unnecessary animal-based product. Beyond its impact on animals, opponents highlight its incompatibility with vegetarians and those avoiding animal-derived goods.
On rare occasions, human bone ash has even been detected, and no one wants to dine off their ancestors.
4. Industrialized Cattle Farming
Despite increasing numbers, animal rights activists advocating for the complete elimination of meat consumption remain a small minority. Such arguments often overlook the fact that humans are naturally omnivorous, consuming both plants and animals.
However, a more reasonable target for criticism is the methods used in meat production. For instance, the American livestock industry heavily relies on antibiotics to maintain the “health” of cows and pigs in overcrowded, unsanitary factory farms. This not only highlights the appalling conditions these animals endure but also contributes to the escalating issue of antibiotic resistance. A staggering 13.6 million kilograms of antibiotics are used annually in US livestock, nearly four times the amount prescribed for humans.
There’s also a strong argument that humanity consumes excessive amounts of meat. Over six million animals are slaughtered hourly for human consumption; in a lifetime, the average American will consume the equivalent of 11 cows, 27 pigs, and 2,400 chickens.
Another pressing issue is the meat industry’s role in global warming: livestock farming accounts for roughly 18% of worldwide climate change. Daily, cows generate 150 billion gallons of methane, a gas 25 to 100 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Yes, cow flatulence is a significant contributor to climate change.
3. Puppy Mills
The Sato Project, a nonprofit dog rescue based in southeastern Puerto Rico, is dedicated to saving the island’s 300,000 stray dogs. Despite the challenges, the team feeds, shelters, provides veterinary care, and relocates over a thousand dogs annually to loving homes in the US mainland (including Vector, a fortunate sato who became part of this author’s family in 2013).
Multiply Puerto Rico’s stray dog crisis by thousands, and you’ll only begin to grasp the scale of homeless dogs in need of care. In this context, the continued existence of puppy mills is both appalling and inexcusable.
Puppy mills are commercial breeding operations that prioritize profit over the well-being of dogs, often keeping them in deplorable conditions. The US alone has an estimated 10,000 puppy mills, catering to buyers obsessed with purebred or designer dogs (oh great, another Labradoodle!).
Although laws regulate facilities supplying pet stores and certain online platforms, black market operations selling directly to consumers remain unchecked. The only solution to ending puppy mills is for people to prioritize adopting needy dogs over demanding specific breeds.
2. Fur Farms
For thousands of years, humans have transformed animals into clothing. Similar to the small but vocal group advocating for the end of meat consumption, activists aiming to ban all animal-derived clothing, like fur coats and leather, are unlikely to succeed soon – though they certainly boost sales for red paint manufacturers!
However, fur farming stands out as particularly troubling. These farms confine foxes and minks in inhumane, overcrowded conditions solely to maximize fur production. The opening lines of a Humane Society investigation are so harrowing they’re hard to read:
“By the time he reaches one year old, the arctic fox on an Asian fur farm has grown so large he can barely fit in his wire cage. Bred excessively for a larger pelt, he suffers from an eye condition worsened by obesity: his eyelashes grow inward, constantly scratching his cornea.”
Estimates differ, but all figures suggest tens of millions of foxes and minks are slaughtered annually on fur farms. In a developed world that has largely outlawed the commercial killing of dogs and cats (except South Korea, which should be ashamed – dogs are not food, period), the factory farming of similar animals for something as trivial as fur is hard to defend – and that’s an understatement.
1. Industrialized Poultry Farming
While certain practices in the meat industry are troubling, the way the US produces poultry warrants its own spotlight.
Again, the issue isn’t about banning chicken consumption entirely. The notion that we’re nearing the replacement of real chicken with highly processed, calorie-dense plant-based alternatives, as seen with beef and pork substitutes, is unrealistic. Moreover, fake chicken is notoriously difficult to replicate, leading to the discontinuation of most products.
Nonetheless, poultry is often raised in deeply concerning conditions, and given its track record, the US is unsurprisingly one of the worst offenders. Annually, the country produces over 44 billion pounds of chicken. That’s a staggering number of wings.
However, the cost of producing such vast quantities of meat is the appalling conditions endured by the chickens. In the US, chickens are typically confined to overcrowded, feces-covered coops with no access to sunlight. They are aggressively overfed to meet the soaring demand for inexpensive meat. Over their brief two-month lives, chickens grow so quickly that their joints, legs, hearts, and lungs suffer severe damage.
After slaughter, US factory-farmed chickens are washed in chlorine. If you’re questioning whether dousing food with a hazardous chemical is concerning… you’re not alone. Many countries prohibit the import of US poultry for this very reason. Recently, Brits expressed outrage over a secret agreement that permitted US chickens into the UK food supply as part of a broader post-Brexit trade deal.
