Let’s Make California the First State to Ban the Sale of Cosmetics Tested on Animals!

The process of testing cosmetics on animals has been proved to be deeply flawed. There are now alternatives to animal testing that are humane and not based on experimenting on living creatures – like working with engineered human skin cells. Unfortunately, those facts have not yet rendered animal testing completely obsolete. Nearly 40 countries have now banned cosmetic testing on animals, which is a great victory for progressive and humane treatment of animals. The United States, however, is still not among those countries.

The Humane Cosmetics Act, a proposed law trying to change that, has been repeatedly stalled in Congress. In the meantime, California has decided to tackle the matter at the state level, leading the way in enacting laws that protect animals from testing. In 2000, California became the first state to ban animal cosmetic testing when alternative methods are available. In 2014, it passed the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Resolution, a bill urging Congress to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics and phase out marketing cosmetics that have been tested on animals.

Now, California may go even further and become the first state to entirely ban the sale of animal-tested cosmetics. The California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act (SB 1249), introduced by Senator Cathleen Galigiana, would “make it unlawful for any cosmetic manufacturer to knowingly import or sell any cosmetic, including personal hygiene products such as deodorant, shampoo, or conditioner, in California if the final product or any component of the product was tested on animals after Jan. 1, 2020.”

The bill is sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL) and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), as well as supported by Cruelty Free International and Lush Cosmetics.

“The California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act would save thousands of animals’ lives each year while making cosmetics safer for humans,” said Judie Mancuso, founder and president of SCIL. “This policy is tried and true as the European Union implemented a similar law over five years ago and the sky didn’t fall. Animals have been saved while companies have flourished and grown without cruelty as part of their business model.”

If it is passed, the California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act will become a historic bill that changes the reality of countless innocent animals, including dogs, monkeys, rabbits, and rats – animals that now suffer in spite of the fact that we have better, more trustworthy, and more technologically advanced methods of cosmetic testing at our disposal.

Click here to voice your Support for the bill and sign the petition urging California lawmakers to pass the California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act!

Image source: David Goehring/Flickr