Recently, Dove has become a fully cruelty-free brand, as certified by PETA. Dove is owned by the company Unilever which publicly supported a global ban on animal testing in collaboration with the Humane Society International. While according to Dove director Amy Stepanian, the brand hadn’t relied on animal testing for 30 years, by certifying as cruelty-free governments can no longer test animals on the brand’s behalf; countries cannot test Dove products on animals behind their back.
The prohibition of animal testing is a cause close to my heart. From the moment I started researching the callous nature of cosmetic animal testing for a secondary school science project, seeing an end to the cruelties these innocent animals endure has been a very important dream of mine. There are so many popular cosmetic brands available that do not test on animals and it is not justifiable to continue this method and cause instrumental suffering so unnecessarily.
it is not justifiable to continue this method and cause instrumental suffering
While it has been illegal to sell cosmetics that have been newly tested on animals within the EU since March 2013, and the EU has invested in research on alternative methods of testing between 2007 and 2011, the epidemic of animal testing is still rife in China and America. The US has only one federal law (the Animal Welfare Act 1966) to ‘protect’ animals in research. This act covers only certain species, excluding rats, mice and birds which constitute between 90 to 95% of animals in laboratories. The protections this law offers is not protection from animal testing, but instead a minimal standard of care. This is simply not good enough.
progress towards eradicating such brutality is slowly being made
In September this year, California became the first state to ban cosmetic animal testing. The stepping stones are being set, and progress towards eradicating such brutality is slowly being made. More and more companies are moving towards being cruelty-free, and more countries are recognising the need to make these changes, Dove being a prime example. But merely going cruelty-free is currently not enough to encourage other companies to follow suit. Cruelty-free brands need to campaign for others to follow them on their road to morality.
The abuses of animal testing must be spoken about; they must be publicised. It’s time for us to do our part as well and speak against the companies that still resort to this anachronistic, abusive method of testing.
