ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
They need our help and attention, so what can we do for them?
to educate and inform them. We par tner with companies to help them transition away from using animal testing in their products and achieve cruelty free status. We also mobilise compassionate citizens through campaigning internationally. For example, we worked with The Body Shop in 2019 to collect 8,000,000 signatures from around the world, and we took that petition to the United Nations.
“People are surprised to hear that, even for cosmetics, animal tests still happen. There are thousands of ingredients that have been shown to be safe and lots of non-animal methods of safety testing. So not only are these tests involving animals cruel, in our view, but they’re not relevant and they don’t represent the best science. Our issue now is actually less with companies, who are increasingly wanting to do the right thing, and more with the regulators who still require these outdated tests. Change not only has to come from governments and regulators, but from consumers.
“We are pleased to see that ethical consumers are pushing the industr y, especially on categories such as cosmetics and household products, and that they’ve star ted to drive this issue along the High Street. Awareness is increasing and greater numbers of companies are recognising that animal testing is an issue for their consumers.
“People can make good choices by shopping cruelty free and suppor ting those businesses that have done the right thing. On our website they can search for brands endorsed by our Leaping Bunny programme, which we star ted in order to end the confusion for consumers tr ying to buy cruelty-free. Some brands might claim ‘not tested on animals’ when that really only relates to the finished product, while some other brands make their own declarations. There are over 1,000 Leaping Bunnyapproved brands globally, which are doing
ever ything they can to be completely cruelty-free.
“You can buy cruelty-free in ever ything from cosmetics and personal care to household and cleaning products, available at all price points and ever ywhere from supermarkets to specialist retailers and high street stores.
“Tell Leaping Bunny brands that you have suppor ted them because they are cruelty free. If your favourite brand isn’t currently Leaping Bunny approved, then write and ask them why not. Ever y enquiry will make a difference because those brands really want to retain their loyal customers. You can also put them in touch with us, so we can encourage them to take that step.
“Suppor ters can also help by holding fundraising events or making donations because, as a non-profit organisation, we really are dependent on the public who care about these issues to step for ward and help us. You can also sign up for our newsletters and see what we are doing.
“Or simply raise awareness. Remind people that animal testing is still happening today, and make people aware that they still have to make those right choices, and they still have to make their voice heard.
“That is really impor tant. We are powered by compassionate citizens taking action. Please help us to make a difference.”
Use the Leaping Bunny search tool to find cruelty-free brands and find out how you can lend your voice to eliminating testing on animals at www.crueltyfreeinternational.org
The Donkey
Sanctuary campaigns to transform the quality of life for donkeys and mules in the UK and abroad. Current campaigns are concerned with emergency rescues in Spain and conditions for working donkeys in Santorini. www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk