Let's stop testing household products on animals!

That's it, since Friday April 27^th, Wallonia in Belgium, has put an end to conducting tests on animals for cosmetics, cleaning or hygiene products, etc. It is also committed to the implementation of a global plan for the gradual reduction of the number of animals used in laboratories and the development of alternative methods so that no animal is in the end used. This is part of a set of measures taken in the interest of the animals in the Belgian kingdom. This modernised animal welfare code assumes that the animal is a sensitive and sentient being. 

The European Union is moving forward yet France stands still

In France, however, we have sent three letters to the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation since April 2017. We have requested that the toxicity tests of household products be banned on animals, in our capacity as a French association for the defence of animals, but also as French representatives of the ECEAE, principal European coalition campaigning on the problematic of animal experimentation. However, we still have no sign of life from the current Minister Frédérique Vidal, in fact the same as with Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before him.

The European directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes states, however, that the final objective of the European Union is the "complete replacement of the procedures applied to live animals for scientific and educational purposes". We therefore urge our Minister to adopt a national plan for the effective implementation of the 3R’s (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) rule so that in the long run, no live animals are used for experimentation.

Good practices that should be the norm

The techniques of experimentation on the animals are today quite obsolete, alternative methods are being developed and are quite effective. There is therefore no fundamental interest in making the animals suffer, the analysis of the ingredients being sufficient to determine the dangerousness of these products.

As proof, brands of cleaning products like Étamine du Lys, La fourmi verte, L'arbre vert, or Pure have already been doing this for a long time. Their product lines have also been awarded the One Voice's humane label, guaranteeing the absence of animal testing either before or after their design. Effective products can therefore have an almost neutral impact on the planet, and have been designed without cruelty to animals.

We would indeed and definitely like that these good practices became the norm, and that no more household products sold in France come from the result of rabbits, cats, dogs, mice or even monkeys suffering from experiments ... Only the political will to act is lacking. Our leaders must take responsibility regarding these sentient beings who, like us, feel pain and fear.