After intense campaigning by animal welfare groups such as Humane Society International (HSI), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and People For Animals (PFA), India has become the first country in South Asia to ban the testing of cosmetics and its ingredients on animals. Additionally, the use of modern non-animal alternative tests will now be mandatory, replacing invasive animal tests.
This is not only a major victory for the countless animals which will no longer suffer unimaginable cruelty for beauty, but a proud moment for India which now sets the stage for other countries to follow suit. This ban is also a major coup for HSI’s “Be Cruelty-Free” campaign, which works to end animal testing for cosmetics worldwide.
Although this ban is undoubtedly cause for celebration, India has not yet banned cosmetic products that are tested on animals abroad and then imported and sold in India. Hopefully, this will be the next step to make India a completely cruelty-free zone. Internationally, Israel and all the 27 countries that make up the European Union are the only ones to have implemented both testing and sales bans, comprehensively.
It should be noted (and applauded!) that thousands of Indian consumers, politicians and celebrities contributed to this intensive campaign, as well as multinational retailers including Lush Cosmetics and The Body Shop.
We are thrilled that compassion has become the law in India, and that fewer animals will needlessly have to be subjected to torturous painful tests in which harmful substances are dripped into their eyes, rubbed all over their eroded skin, sprayed into their faces or forced down their throats causing them to choke and die.
We pray for the day when cruelty-free cosmetics become the gold standard worldwide, and that compassion becomes the law everywhere.
Debby & Ellen
