At last some really good news on the animal testing and research front!
By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson of the Humane Society United States
On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that calls on the European Commission to draw-up an action plan to phase out animal experiments. This is a momentous political victory in a region where recent setbacks have occurred for animals in laboratories.
Top on the list of setbacks is the revelation that the European Chemical Agency has disregarded the longstanding ban on animal testing for cosmetics by demanding additional animal data for dozens of cosmetic ingredients, which has already killed an estimated 25,000 animals. Humane Society International’s stop-motion short film “Save Ralph” has helped raise awareness on the fact that the public has been misled about the EU’s cosmetics ban.
Many more animals may die in painful toxicity tests if the European Commission implements its Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment, which as proposed would further cement the EU’s “tick-box” approach to chemical hazard assessment based predominantly on animal testing. The Parliament’s resolution correctly points out that non-animal approaches based on human biology are the key to better assess chemical safety. That is one of the reasons why, in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has committed to phase-out its animal tests requirements by 2035, and the Humane Cosmetics Act is gathering steam in Congress.
The resolution in favor of an action plan to phase out animal testing was championed by HSI/Europe and other animal protection groups, leading European scientists and companies. The overwhelming cross-party support shown by Members of the European Parliament reflects the growing dismay felt toward recent actions and proposals by European Chemical Agency and the European Commission.
The resolution is a strong statement that covers all animal use for research, testing and education, a sobering reminder of the nearly 10 million animals used annually in European laboratories. Nearly 70% of these animals are used in biomedical research, an area where, according to statistics, little to no reduction has been achieved despite a 35-year-old legal requirement that animals must not be used where alternatives are available. Continued reliance on animals as a first resort cannot be justified or allowed to persist in light of the modern non-animal technologies like human organ-chips and next-generation computer models now available.
Recognizing that science has evolved, the Parliament is calling for deep, systemic changes, noting that phasing out animal experiments will require “preferential funding of non-animal methods across all EU research and innovation initiatives,” training scientists in novel approaches and supporting start-up companies offering and perfecting these methods.
Hastening the transition to human-focused approaches to testing and health research is in all our interests. EU parliamentarians should be applauded for their vision and leadership, and other nations are encouraged to follow suit.
Now, we need public voices to join our call to make sure the European Commission listens and delivers an ambitious and life-saving action plan.
Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.
Also more good news from Mexico:
In major win for animals, Mexico bans animal testing for cosmetics
By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson
Even in our age of advanced technologies, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats continue to have chemicals and substances forced down their throats, dripped into their eyes or slathered on their skin to satisfy new regulatory demands that undercut progress against cosmetic animal testing. That’s why we put so much effort into legislative and regulatory change—removing the driver for new animal testing and ultimately banning it.
So, we rejoiced last week when Mexico became the first nation in North America to pass a law banning animal testing for cosmetics. Once enacted, the new law also bans the manufacture, import and marketing of cosmetics tested on animals elsewhere in the world. With the addition of Mexico, 41 countries have banned such testing. Also, seven states in the U.S. have prohibited the sale of animal-tested cosmetics and 10 states in Brazil have also enacted bans.
Over the years, we have largely campaigned against cosmetic animal testing because of the terrible suffering and loss of animal life inherent to such procedures. As we approach critical mass in our global effort to end cosmetics testing on animals, it is more important than ever that we make it clear that we do not just stand against animal suffering, we also stand for something: The transition to state-of-the-art non-animal methods that are rapid, inexpensive, more accurate and simply better at assuring safe use for humans. This is part of a vision of a more humane world in which corporate, institutional and public policies take animals’ interests deeply into account, a world that recognizes their dependence on us, does real justice by them and seeks to draw out the best in ourselves.
In Mexico, members of the Senado de la República unanimously adopted the federal bill to end cosmetic animal testing thanks to the bill’s champions, Senator Ricardo Monreal, Humane Society International/Mexico, Mexican animal organization Te Protejo and other key stakeholders. HSI’s stop-motion animated film “Save Ralph” also played a pivotal role in carrying this law across the finish line. The film—which tells the story of a rabbit “tester” through voices from a multinational, multilingual cast of stars, and went viral worldwide with more than 150 million social media views and over 740 million tags on TikTok—helped to generate more than 1.3 million petition signatures in Mexico.
Companies like Lush, Unilever, P&G, L’Oréal, Avon and Givaudan are working with HSI through the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration to secure stronger policy alignment and provide training in modern, non-animal approaches to cosmetic safety assessment to build capacity across the global industry, together with acceptance by regulatory authorities. But the U.S., Canada, Brazil and other major economies still lag behind the now 41 other nations who have taken a federal stand against cosmetic testing on animals. That’s why our public policy work is laser-focused on these remaining target nations for the campaign. In the U.S. we are also pressing for state laws banning the sale of animal-tested cosmetics, building on the steady progress of the last year.
Within the next few weeks, we expect to see the reintroduction of the Humane Cosmetics Act in the U.S. Congress, and we’ll be doing all that we can to secure its passage. .
Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.
Even more good news for dogs in the USA, hopefully this is just the start and other countries will follow suit.
A massive blow to puppy mill industry: Illinois ends the sale of puppies in pet stores
In a major win in the fight against cruel puppy mills, Illinois’ Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed the Humane Pet Store Bill (HB 1711) into law. The state’s 21 puppy-selling pet stores have 180 days from August 27, the date the bill was signed, to stop selling commercially raised puppies and kittens. This effectively closes out a profitable sales channel for puppy mills and will drive the Illinois pet market towards more humane sources like shelters, rescues and responsible breeders.
Illinois pet stores sell thousands of puppies each year from large-scale commercial breeders and brokers who treat mother dogs as little more than breeding machines and puppies as mere products to be shipped to pet stores and sold. Many of these operations have terrible animal welfare records, impacting the health of the puppies. When families acquire ill puppies, this can lead to high veterinary bills and the puppies can even die within weeks of purchase, leaving families heartbroken. The new law sends a clear message: The days when pet stores can showcase the cute puppy or kitten in the window while puppy and kitten mills hide their horrors are coming to an end. Despite the vast resources the pet stores put into fighting this legislation, it passed both the state House and Senate by strong bipartisan majorities. And Gov. Pritzker did not cave to the veto campaign that followed its passage. Instead, lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Andrew Chesney and Democratic Sen. Cristina Castro, sided with the people of Illinois who called and emailed by the thousands to urge support for this important law.
Illinois now joins California, Maryland, Maine, Washington and nearly 400 localities across 30 states in prohibiting the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet stores. The writing is on the wall for puppy-selling pet stores: It’s time to cut ties with puppy mills and, rather than add to the pet overpopulation crisis that is currently gripping large parts of the nation, pet stores should look to join with shelters and rescues to increase adoptions of animals who would otherwise be left homeless.
Petland, the largest retailer of puppy mill puppies and a company we’ve criticized for mistreating animals, selling sick animals and sourcing from some of the worst breeders in the nation, will be affected by the Illinois law. Eight Petland stores in the state will have to stop selling puppies in the coming months, and the recent passage of pet store ordinances in Florida counties adds four more elsewhere in the country. As a dominant force in the industry, Petland should take a good look at where things are moving and shift all its stores away from selling puppies.
The strong stand by Illinois lawmakers against puppy mill cruelty this session did not stop with the pet store bill. The state also became the first in the nation to prohibit the financing of dog and cat purchases with the enactment of HB 572. Because puppy mill puppies are often sold for thousands of dollars to those who may not be able to afford them outright, some stores offer financing as an incentive to close the sale. Pet stores and large internet brokers often promise low-interest financing through third-party lenders that end up charging exorbitantly high-interest rates and hidden fees. Petland customers have complained of interest rates as high as 188%, and in some cases, customers must make payments for years after their pets died. HB 572 passed unanimously in both chambers, showing zero tolerance for these predatory practices.
With the momentum of public opinion and bipartisan lawmakers on our side, we will continue full steam ahead until puppy mills no longer exist. New York, with more than 60 puppy-selling stores, is in the middle of a two-year legislative session in which a humane pet store bill has already passed the state Senate. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts also have active bills, and there are several key local ordinance votes coming up. We are campaigning for the passage of these laws in communities around the country that are affected by the impacts of puppy mills, leading the charge for a more humane future for puppies and kittens.
Follow Kitty Block on Twitter @HSUSKittyBlock.
What absolutely brilliant news for animals. It´s about time that something good came out of the years of campaigning by many dedicated people. Well done to those people and thank you for all that have done, are doing and will continue to do for animals!
The blog song for today is: "Heroes" by David Bowie
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