I'm Going Cruelty-Free to #SaveRalph...
Happy Saturday friends and welcome back to the blog!
For today’s blog post, I want to talk about something that’s been in my head over the last few days. On April 6, 2021, Spencer Susser, an American film director, released a short film titled Save Ralph. This movie is not like any other short film I have seen before because it’s about a rabbit named Ralph who has had a pretty tough life… as a tester.
What I mean by '“tester” is that in the film, Ralph (along with many other animals from the animal kingdom), is being tested by humans every day with beauty and hygienic products to see if they’re safe before they’re sold to the general public. At the beginning of the film, Ralph is a surprisingly optimistic rabbit who believes that rabbits have no other value other than being a tester, and has been left with many unreversible injuries such as a blind eye due to testing trials. At the end of the film, Ralph is left both completely blind and in excruciating pain, thanking the general public for buying animal-tested products because if we weren’t, he’d be “in the field like a normal rabbit.” The film then concludes with this statement: No animal should suffer and die in the name of beauty.
Save Ralph was distributed by Humane Society International to kick start #SaveRalph, a campaign to end animal testing across the globe once and for all. After watching this very heartbreaking short film, I decided to do a little more research into animal testing, and to no one’s surprise, I was left both disgusted and mortified. My research resulted in me finding many articles about states and countries that have yet to ban animal testing and the horror that goes on within laboratories. After completing my research, I decided to get rid of all of my animal-tested beauty products and go completely cruelty-free.
Now I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are probably thinking to yourselves, “why would she go cruelty-free if she’s not vegan and doesn't eat a plant-based diet.” For all of you wondering why I made this decision while eating an omnivore diet, let me explain.
My family and I welcomed a very sweet puppy into our lives back in January, who means more to us than anything else in this world. Simba, our pomeranian puppy, brings so much beauty into our lives, and the thought of him being tortured is too much to stomach.
I have the same feelings for animals everywhere. Even though I’m not vegan, I believe that no animal should be ridiculed, tortured, and killed for something so insignificant as aesthetics. The fact that a sweet and innocent bunny is suffering just so my lipstick is safe is baffling.
That’s why I’m here to announce that I will no longer purchase animal-tested products and support companies that don’t test their cosmetics on animals. I have already purchased new makeup and other beauty supplies and will post a separate blog post detailing the products I bought, and resources that helped me in my shopping. Thank you guys so much for hopping on the blog today to read this post, and I hope you all have an amazing weekend and join me to #SaveRalph.
-Love, Lexa
LAST MINUTE FYI’S:
While I still live on the omnivore diet, I buy ethically raised animal products such as turkey, eggs, and plant milk.
I try to incorporate at 1-2 vegetarian/plant-based meals a week and have been considering going completely plant-based (if any of my readers are vegan and want to give me some tips on how to transition into a vegan diet in the best way possible, leave me a comment down below).
TRIGGER WARNING: If you are sensitive to gory images and/or graphics, I DO NOT RECOMMEND WATCHING THE FILM BUT INSTEAD READ ABOUT THE FILM AND CAMPAIGN ON HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL’S WEBSITE.