Let’s Make the United States Cruelty Free!

The second annual Be Cruelty-Free Week is underway, to raise awareness of the need to end animal testing for cosmetics. The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International kicked it off on Monday with a series of new collaborations, fun videos and a cruelty-free infographic to reach millions of consumers in the world’s top 12 cosmetics markets.

During this special week, we welcome the support of six of the most influential cruelty-free beauty bloggers on the web, including Jen, “The Chief Bunny.” These bloggers came together to create a very unique and fun video in support of the global Be Cruelty-Free campaign, and to encourage consumers to help us make the world cruelty-free.

To find a few cruelty-free cosmetics on the market, you can visit Vegan Cuts during Be Cruelty-Free Week for a limited edition beauty box containing product samples from Leaping Bunny certified companies, including Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Crazy Rumors, Schmidt’s, Beauty Without Cruelty, Aubrey Organics, Biao Skincare and Blissoma.

We are extremely proud to unveil the new face of our Be Cruelty-Free USA campaign, Jenna Dewan Tatum, star of Lifetime’s Witches of East End. Tatum appears on The HSUS’ Be Cruelty-Free billboard shot by celebrity photographer Don Flood, displayed at the corner of Fairfax Ave. and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. In a behind the scenes video, Tatum speaks about the need to end unnecessary and inhumane testing for cosmetics.

The launch of our second annual Be Cruelty-Free Week falls on the one year anniversary of the European Union sales ban on animal-tested cosmetics. HSI has been instrumental in the implementation of bans on cruel cosmetics in the 28 member states of the European Union and in India. The EU, the largest cosmetics market in the world, and Israel became cruelty-free markets last year by prohibiting the sale of cosmetics tested on animals after a fixed cut-off – soon to be joined by India.

Unfortunately, cosmetics testing on animals is still allowed in the U.S. It’s time to demand the American cosmetic industry fully switch to 21st century science and align ourselves with the global trend away from cosmetics animal tests.

Even though more and more companies are moving away from animal testing, rats, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits are still dying to evaluate the toxicity of ingredients for our shampoo, eye shadow or lipstick. Common tests are conducted on rabbits that involve pouring chemicals into their eyes or applying them to their shaved skin. Rats are used to see how much of a substance it takes to make them sick and/or kill them by force-feeding, dermal exposure and sometimes by inhalation.

Not only are these tests inhumane and extremely painful for the animals, but they are also inadequate to predict the safety of cosmetics for human use. The future of safety testing relies on advanced technologies, including computational and human cell or artificial tissue-based models, which are already in use. These methods are based on human biology and are more predictive of human reactions than animal tests. Industry and governments around the world are investing heavily in the further development on non-animal tests, and it’s time for the U.S. to embrace these advanced technologies.

More than 500 cosmetic companies in North America are already manufacturing safe and compassionate cosmetics by choosing from the thousands of ingredients with a history of safe use, or by using scientific alternative test methods.

We, at The HSUS and Humane Society Legislative Fund, applaud representatives Moran (D-VA) and Grimm (R-NY) for their leadership on the Humane Cosmetics Act, H.R. 4148, key legislation to give U.S. cosmetic companies one year to stop testing on animals and switch to alternatives, and foreign companies three years to find ways to evaluate product safety to sell in the U.S. that do not harm animals.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of The HSUS and we are determined to add the U.S. to the list of cruelty-free countries. Please join The HSUS’ Be Cruelty-Free U.S.A. campaign and contact your representatives to ask them to co-sponsor the Humane Cosmetics Act.

Written by Pascaline Clerc, PhD. Dr. Clerc is the Senior Director of Animal Research Issues at The Humane Society of the United States as the.  She is the director of the Be Cruelty-Free campaign aiming to eventually end animal testing of cosmetics in the U.S. Dr. Clerc is also overseeing the refinement and replacement of animals use in research, involving work with scientists, industry leaders and government officials.