SALT LAKE CITY — Halley Bruno has always been compassionate about animals, and has always loved them. She has known about animal abuse and has always been against it. But what got her started in her own animal rights project was a project in her Saint Vincent de Paul eighth-grade English class. "We had a project in my English class," said Bruno. "We had to write something we were passionately against, so I decided to research more on animal testing, and it broke my heart. I could cry right now it was so awful. I remember I was crying when I was giving my presentation in class. It was very close to my heart, so I decided to do something about it shortly after that. "I told my class about animal testing because there are websites like PETA that I am against because they scare you into doing things, and I would want websites that are more educational. "I got the idea that I could raise money for an organization, and my dad works closely with a place who can embroider and design pins and things like that," said Bruno. "So I made the initial design and we had a designer color it. I created a pin that say PAWS." The school had a carnival, which ended up raising money for her project. "I was doing face painting," said Bruno. "Others were doing sack races and cake walks. We passed around a flyer that said the proceeds would go to PAWS, but PAWS did not sponsor the carnival. The school has a carnival every year, and we pick a charity every year to support. This year the school decided to support PAWS." Bruno said when she visited the classrooms she would tell the students to imagine if it were their dog – and right away she would stir emotions. She told the students dogs were gassed, poisoned, under nourished, and forced to stay outside. She said this does not only happen to dogs, it also happens to rabbits, birds, fish, reptiles, and monkeys, just to name a few. "I learned that rats and mice are not protected at all," said Bruno. "Anything at all can be done to them. There is an Animal Rights Law that we have, which has not been updated for 19 years. It does not protect the animals. It just has rules like, ‘think about what you are doing before you hurt the animal.’ Nobody does that any more. "I want to let people know that when you buy a shampoo, think about all the animals that had to suffer to that shampoo to you," said Bruno. "I want people to be aware that when you buy something it could be harming other animals. I don’t know about most people, but most of my friends would not want to buy something that says on the bottle, this product is tested on animals. You have to think twice." Bruno got permission to have kids wear her pins at school, and also passed out jars to have students put money in for her project. "I also had a student friend collect money for me at his birthday party," said Bruno. "I collected $350, which will all go to NAVS (National Anti-Vivisection Society). Also, my friend and neighbor, Helena Duncan, is into writing letters to representatives, and has also helped me with this project." Bruno really loves animals, but she also wants to be an artist. "I am a really creative person, so maybe I will do something with writing or art, or maybe I will be a veterinarian or a veterinarian’s assistant," said Bruno. I just don’t know yet."
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