It’s Time To Put An End To Animal Testing -Here’s How We Can Do It

I don’t know about you, but if you are like me, you may be thinking something along the lines of I can’t believe that it is still legal to perform tests using chemicals on innocent animals just so we can have our personal care, beauty and cleaning products. I feel like this is an outdated practice and it’s about time that this comes to an end. If you’re wondering why hasn’t it, it’s time we realize that this, along with many other destructive practices that are still taking place on our planet today lie in the fate of our hands. It is up to us, and us alone to stop these extreme, horrific things from happening. Currently, in the USA there are tests being done on hundreds of animals every single minute. This means that more than 100 million animals are being killed each year! These animals being sacrificed in the name of beauty, cleanliness and “safety” include but are not limited to: mice, rats, bunnies, fish, cats, guinea pigs, birds, dogs and non-human primates.

The tests that are performed include: forced chemical exposure, oral force feeding, skin and muscle injections, physical restraint, food and water deprivation, surgical procedures, infliction of wounds and burns, manipulations to create animal models of human diseases ranging from cancer to stroke and depression, amongst many others. If this isn’t bad enough, many of these tests are completely unnecessary in this day and age.

The European Union has recently put a ban in place that restricts the import or sale of any cosmetics that have been tested on animals, way to go Europe! That is a great start! Unfortunately, in the USA there are no laws in place that restricts the use of animal testing to validate a products safety. What’s even more mind boggling is that there is no reason that these tests on animals even need to be performed.

There are over 10,000 ingredients that can be used for cosmetic and cleaning products that have already been tested and established as safe for human use. It is so important to remember that each and every one of us has a vote for what kind of a world that we want to be living in. “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” – Anna Lappe Think you can’t make a difference? Think again, you can. Choose cruelty free products. It’s simple; the more people that choose cruelty free products, the less of the products that perform tests on animals will sell.

Therefore these companies will have no choice but to evolve with the times and quit testing on animals, or fall under and go bankrupt. It’s that simple. Yes, many of the cruelty free products are a bit more expensive than your average pharmacy brand, but the higher the demand for kinder products the more likely that their respective price point will also eventually drop. If you avoid it because of the price it will never change, but if you step up and decide to support the ethical companies you will see a change, and feel good about yourself for being a part of the solution instead part of the problem. Before you know it you will begin to see the bigger companies jumping on the new “kindness and cruelty-free bandwagon!” Keep in mind that there are many personal care and cleaning products that you can easily make yourself! In the long run, partaking in this and taking matters into your own hands can benefit the environment, (on multiple levels) animals, your health and your wallet! Luckily, we have this amazing search engine available to us today called Google. If you aren’t sure whether a product tests on animals or not, you can type it in, do a little digging and find out! Also, because of the growing interest in cruelty-free products there are many products that actually have a label that notifies you that it is in fact cruelty-free.

The label that you may see most often is a bunny that says “cruelty-free” or “not tested on animals.” If you see any of the images that are pictured below you can rest assured that this product does not test on animals.

The image of the bunny with the pink ears is a certification from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) so you can be assured that the product meets their even more stringent requirements. To see a full list of companies that adhere to PETA’s standards please click here.

The image with the leaping bunny is the symbol for Cruelty-Free International, who assisted with Europe’s ban on animal testing for cosmetics. For a list of companies that do partake in animal testing of some kind please click here, so that in the future you can avoid products made by these companies. To make it easier on yourself and to have more options, check out your local health food store.

These stores are usually loaded with not only ethical, but plant based, ecologically friendly products as well! Just be sure to check the label, and when in doubt you can ask the store employees or google the brand. It is important to keep this information in mind while buying cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products as well. We can all do our part to create the type of world that we want to live in, one step at at time. Much Love http://veganrabbit.com/list-of-companies-that-do-not-test-on-animals/ http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-laboratories/mice-rats-laboratories http://www.hsi.org/campaigns/end_animal_testing/qa/about.html http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/consumer/faqs http://www.health-report.co.uk/cruelty_free.htm http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/en/the-solution/animal-testing-for-cosmetics-in-europe-finally-set-to-end .

Read the full article at the original website

References:

• http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf
• http://veganrabbit.com/list-of-companies-that-do-test-on-animals/
• http://veganrabbit.com/list-of-companies-that-do-not-test-on-animals/
• http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-laboratories/mice-rats-laboratories/
• http://www.hsi.org/campaigns/end_animal_testing/qa/about.html
• http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/consumer/faqs
• http://www.health-report.co.uk/cruelty_free.htm
• http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/en/the-solution/animal-testing-for-cosmetics-in-europe-finally-set-to-end