It only took 23 years of fighting to finally get the European Union on board with banning animal testing of cosmetics. This ban is not only for the end product but for the individual ingredients as well. It will go into effect in the EU beginning March 11, 2013 for all personal care products and cosmetics according to the report on Huff Post Green.
While the EU leads, the US lags behind. Activist organizations like ForceChange.com are still fighting via petitions to the US Senate and lobbying to achieve humane change in America for American made products (created at home and abroad) without much success. (Ban Animal Testing in the Cosmetics Industry) Money is always the bottom line and as long as corporations can sway politicians by yanking their campaign purse strings, we will continue to see animals suffer unnecessarily at the hands of companies that refuse to update their testing methods and improve their ethical practices.
These tests are sadly "out of sight, out of mind" so consumers don't have any direct experience with what animals are put through (often completely unnecessary) for product testing. It is also a vicious, co-dependancy between these companies who continue to test on animals and the inhumane businesses who provide the animals. Even worse, countries like China demand all products sold in their country be animal tested so many US companies that swore off animal testing silently began doing so again in order to sell their products in China.
L’Oreal, Max Factor, Pantene, Johnson and Johnson, Wella, L’Occitane, Yve Rocher, Caudalie and Mary Kay all test on animals either in their end products or allow the testing of their ingredients. Rabbits are forced to have cosmetic ingredients rubbed into their eyes and skin causing unrelieved burning. Lab mice and rats are force-fed ingredients in small amounts to check for illness, and in lethal amounts to record stages of death. None of these experiments are necessary in this technological age. All animals used for testing are killed in the end either by neck-breaking, asphyxiation, or decapitation.
As horrific as this is, what's more horrifying is the lack of compassion exhibited by non-essential media mouth pieces like Republican pundit Ann Coulter who shared her two cents on the Huff Post article stating "AnnCoulter Let's test them on environmentalists! {NYT: EU bans animal testing for cosmetics}". Ms. Coulter treats the inhumane experimentation/testing on animals as a joke.
The US needs to catch up to the EU's idea that it is not enough to ignore or delay passage of an animal testing ban until companies find alternative methods and implement them. We should embrace Tonio Borg's, (European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy) approach to force companies to implement agreed upon non-animal testing methods through legislative ban. These companies have had plenty of time to seek out humane testing alternatives already and have failed to do so time and again.
Change happens only through two avenues: necessity and demand. The public demands we end animal testing. Creating and passing the law provides the "necessity".
Much applause to the EU for leading the way. Now let's all take a moment to contact our state representatives and demand change.
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M. Gwynn has authored two books, Harvest and The Cat Who Wanted to be a Reindeer on Amazon.com .
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