What you can do for animals yourself

Want to take action for animals too? See What you can do to stop factory farming →

Above all, what you can stop doing

Doing something for animals does not have to be difficult. Often it is about not doing something: no longer taking part in what causes animals to suffer. Here are choices you can make yourself, in your everyday life.

Eat more often without meat, fish or poultry

Every year more than 80 billion land animals are slaughtered worldwide, most of them raised in crowded sheds. Start with one day a week without meat. If you still want meat, choose organic.

Vegetarian dinners · Why less meat?

Watch out for dairy and eggs

Choose organic dairy and eggs from hens that can go outside. Also watch out for eggs in biscuits, pasta and ready meals: they often come from cages. Try a day without any animal products.

Think of fish too

Fish feel pain and fear. Farmed fish such as salmon and trout live crowded together in tanks or cages. Lobsters, crabs and prawns are often boiled alive.

Is fish a good alternative?

No cruel delicacies

Do not eat foie gras: geese and ducks are force-fed to produce it. Its production is banned in many countries, including the United Kingdom, but it is still sold. Leave frogs' legs on the shelf too.

Choose cruelty-free

Selling cosmetics tested on animals has been banned in the EU since 2013; in the United Kingdom testing was banned even earlier. That does not apply everywhere in the world, nor to cleaning products and detergents. Look for a label such as the Leaping Bunny.

No entertainment with animals

Be critical of circuses with animals, zoos and dolphinariums. Do not visit a bullfight on holiday. Do not go fishing or hunting: take a beautiful photo instead.

Think before you get a pet

A pet takes a lot of time, energy and money. If you do get one, adopt an animal from a shelter. Take good care of it and do not let it have young just because you like baby animals.

Should we get pets?

Report animal cruelty

See animal cruelty or neglect? Report it to the police or the animal welfare authority in your country. In England and Wales you can call the RSPCA cruelty line: 0300 1234 999.

Do not buy fur

Fur farming is banned in the United Kingdom and in more and more European countries. Yet millions of animals are still bred for their fur in wire cages. Watch out for fur trims on collars and hoods.

No souvenirs made from animals

Do not buy souvenirs made from animal material on holiday, such as ivory, crocodile leather or turtle shell. Rare animals are killed especially for them.

Help the animals around your home

Make your garden friendly for butterflies, bees, hedgehogs and frogs. In hard frost, keep a hole open in the pond ice and hang up bird food. Do not feed bread to ducks in the park. Deal with "pests" in an animal-friendly way.

Read more about young animals and about our goals.