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example, leather, silk, wool, pearls, and coral), use as medicines (vitamins, over the counter and prescribed medicines at home and in hospitals), furnishings in homes and cars (leather, ivory, silk, wool, animal skins, stuffed animal heads), beauty aids (many kinds of cosmetics), entertainment (the use of animals on roadside shows and circuses such as monkeys, bears, elephants, tigers, lions), for transportation and joy rides—all of these have a common component of some kind of (severe or slightly less severe) cruelty to helpless creatures, most of whom are five-sensed. Still, there are many people within and outside the Jain community who understand the nature of cruelty and suffering to animals and try very diligently to avoid the use of such products. Let me share a few interesting trends and developments in North America. Hopefully, the following examples offer some guidance. There are nearly 20 million (more than 3 times the population of Jains in the world) vegetarians and vegans in North America and that number is growing every day. Proper labeling and the use of cruelty free products are increasing at a very impressive rate and this information is now readily available on the internet and in print media. “Vegan” and “veganism” have become commonly acceptable words and also part of the English dictionary. There are literally hundreds of thousands of magazines, books, podcasts, blogs, radio, websites, Facebook pages, vegan groups, societies and television talk shows devoted to vegan and vegetarianism. Quite a few celebrities are now identified vegans.
About twenty five years ago, there was a peaceful march in Washington D.C. for Animal Rights and 25,000 people from all over the United States participated; local marches and activism continue in nearly every corner of the US.
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An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
