Our much loved and missed hamster penfold
"Even the smallest of paws can grab hold of your heart"
Every year hundreds of animals go through unnecessary pain and suffering in laboratories for nothing more than to test cosmetics such as shampoo. Many of the ingredients used in these products are known to be safe but still some companies continue to test them on animals. The only reason they have for doing this is to make money no matter how much suffering is involved. Even though the results of animal tests are often unreliable and are not applicable to humans.
Acute Toxicity Tests
To determine the long term effects of of a single short term exposure to a chemical or product the substance is administerd to animals, usually rodents in extreme doses via force feeding, forced inhalation and/or absorption through the skin. animals in the highest dose groups may endure severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, convulsions, seizures, paralysis, and bleeding from the nose, mouth and genitals before they ultimately die
Eye And Skin Irritation / Corrosion Tests
The Draize eye and skin irritation / corrosion test dates back to the 1940's. During this test rabbits are fully imobilized in full body restraints whilst a substance is dripped into their eyes or smeared onto their shaved fur. During testing laboratory technicians record the damage at intervals for hours or days. Rabbits may suffer swollen eyelids, irritated or cloudy eyes and inflamed skin. In the case of irreversible corrosive damage they may endure ulcers, bleeding, bloody scabs or blindness.
The scoring of eye and skin damage inflicted during the Draize test is highly subjective which means that different laboratories or different tests within the same laboratory will produce different results. One study found that the Draize test "grossly overpredicted the effect that could be seen in the human eye" and another concluded that "the test does not reflect the eye irritation hazzard for man" In contrast it has been found that better results can be achieved by doing skin patch tests on human volunteers rather than resorting to testing on rabbits
Product Tests
No law requires that cosmeticts and household products be tested on animals. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "urges cosmetic manufactures to conduct whatever tests are appropriate to establish that their cosmetics are safe" but "does not specifically mandate animal testing for cosmetic safety" Likewise household products regulated by Consumer Product Safety Commision (CPSC) do not have to be tested on animals. A summary of the CPSC's animal testing policy, as published in the federal register, states that "it is important to keep in mind that neither the FHSA (Federal Hazardous Substances Act) nor the Commisions regulations require any firm to perform animal tests. The statute and it's implementing regulations require only that a product be labeled to reflect the hazzards associated with that product
Well done to the Co-op for having the courage to stand up and do the right thing on behalf of defenceless animals. They have just announced that they have sold all their shares in AVON. The only reason they invested in these shares in the first place was because they like so many others they believed that Avon did not test their products on animals, which as we all now know they do, they have been lying not only to the public but the people who work selling their products for years
I have noticed that in Avons new adverts to recruit sales people they have added on to the end that they are offering cash incentives for people to sign up. This all sounds a little bit desperate, could it be they need to replace all the staff they lost when they found out they had been lied to? After all every time one of their sales people was asked by a customer "Do they test this stuff on animals?" and they replied "No", they were not aware that they were being dragged into Avons dirty little lies!
Speaking of liars, good luck to Uncaged who are making it aware to everyone that another company AUSSIE HAIR CARE has been telling fibs too! They announced on their Facebook page that they do not test their products on animals, what a surprise THEY DO! Although this does not come as such a big surprise when you learn that Aussie are part of P&G
UPDATE: 27th October 2012
Uncaged have had their complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority upheld in relation to false animal testing denials by Proctor and Gamble. P&G hair care brand "Aussie" were found to be misleading customers by claiming on their Facebook page that their products were not tested on animals
Proctor and Gamble still continue to test chemical ingredients for their products (Aussie, Herbal Essences, Max Factor, Olay etc) on animals. They killed 1500 animals for just one toxicity test for Aussie ingredients. P&G are also part of an industry consortium that is lobbying the EU to scrap a scheduled ban on animal tested cosmetics
This poor little beagle's skin is blistered and burned after being subjected to toxicity testing thanks to Proctor & Gamble!
Speaking of P&G, I have seen all of your adverts claiming to be "proud sponsors of mums" I would just like to say that as a mum, if I ever find myself in need of sponsorship, it would not be you!
