There's Dog in my Deodorant

On Tuesday night I went to "Beyond Our Diet" hosted by Always Working for Animal Rights and Equality (AWARE). The presentation focused on non-edible animal products. Most of the presentation did not apply to me personally; I've never really liked leather, I'm allergic to wool, and pearls and silk are too expensive for a college student on full financial aid. I read labels to make sure the companies I give my money to do not test on animals. However, I did not know that many products that are not tested on animals contain ingredients such as tallow and/or glycerin.


When Recycling Goes Wrong:

Tallow glycerin is produced at Rendering Plants. Rendering Plants collect slaughterhouse waste such as heads and hooves (from cows and pigs), euthanized companion animals (such as cats and dogs), roadkill (rats and raccoons), and spoiled, rejected meat from supermarkets.

This makes up the bulk of raw materials, but lots of other toxic waste gets mixed in as well, such as insecticides that poisoned livestock have consumed, chemicals leaked from antibiotics in livestock, the euthanasia drugs given to companion animals, the poisonous flea collars from dead companion animals, and plastics from cattle ID tags and the bags containing dead pets from veterinarians.

All this is thrown into huge vats and cooked at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit for several days until a yellowish grease rises to the top and is skimmed off. This grease is primarily animal fat, but contains trace amounts of the toxins mentioned above. It is used in household items such as margarines, toothpastes, mouthwashes, deodorants and pet food. (Rumor has is that McDonald's uses tallow glycerin in their fries, but we won't go there...)

It can be hard to spot this on labels because not all glycerin is made from animal fat; some is made from vegetables. If it says it contains glycerin, glycerol, of stearic acid, check to see if it also says, "Contains no animal products." If it says tallow, that means animal fat. Always.




My friends have tried to assure me that the actual amount of dog is so minimal that it really doesn't matter. I don't care. This is fucking gross and I won't have any part of it. Besides, I personally don't see how dogs and cats are any more special that cows and pigs. They are all living creatures and deserve a better fate than being rubbed on my armpits.

It was almost discouraging to me to find that I am not so far along on my quest for a cruelty-free lifestyle as I thought, but then I learned of how many vegan companies there are who abstain from using animals for human gain. I'm already most of the way to my goal of strict veganism; the only animal products I eat come from milk, and I only eat milk products at the J. But with this new information, I think I will be able to reach my goal of being a complete hardcore vegan by the end of this semester.