Celebrating Canada’s Cosmetics Animal Testing Ban

There’s been a monumental victory for animal rights as the Budget Implementation Act passed, including an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act that prohibits testing cosmetics on animals in Canada. For more than three decades, our friends at Lush have been fighting against animal testing, founded on the firm belief that animal testing is ineffective, outdated and inhumane.

“After years of campaigning efforts, we are thrilled that the Canadian government has put an end to animal testing for cosmetics. Today, there are roughly 20,000 cosmetic ingredients that have already been established as safe, as well as a growing number of proven, non-animal test methods that are scientifically superior, faster and cheaper than their cruel alternatives. There is no reason for this ineffective, outdated, and inhumane practice to continue anywhere in the world,” says Brandi Halls, chief ethics officer at Lush Cosmetics, North America.

Since 2013, Lush has worked in partnership with Humane Society International and the Animal Alliance of Canada towards this victory. Through campaigning in Lush shops, co-presenting  to Parliament committee hearings, and engaging more than 150,000 people to send messages to the Canadian government, an overwhelming 87 per cent of Canadians support this nation-wide ban on animal testing for cosmetics. “With bans to protect animals from cosmetics testing now in Canada and Mexico, the United States cannot be far behind,” adds Brandi. “We’ve campaigned for bans on animal testing for cosmetics in both countries concurrently, but now it’s really time to increase the pressure in the U.S.—action can’t be far behind.”

Lush’s support has resulted in over $2 million dollars of funding to end the use of animals in all research, inclusive of the support provided to six organizations working to end animal testing for cosmetics in Canada, as part of a multi-year Fighting Animal Testing Strategy. A key component of this funding was through the sales of Charity Pot Body Lotion, which donates 100 per cent of the purchase price (minus the taxes) to grassroots groups fighting for human rights, animal protection and the environment. Lush intends to fight animal research into extinction, including flawed and failed regulatory tests and other experiments by continuing to press for legislation to end animal testing in various industries across the globe.

Lush is proud to sponsor the Lush Prize, an annual global prize fund which supports initiatives to end or replace animal testing across various industries. It is the largest prize fund in the non-animal testing sector, with six prize categories. Between 2012-2022, Lush Prize awarded over $4.5 million CAD to 130 winners in 30 countries to continue their work developing and supporting new animal-free initiatives. This prize is a way for Lush to join a global conversation about animal testing and give passionate researchers and activists the opportunity to showcase and continue their work. —Vita Daily

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