UK members
Many people are concerned that in the UK it is still perfectly legal
to use animals in household product tests. The Humane Household
Product Standard guarantees that no finished products or their
individual chemicals have been tested on animals by that company or
its suppliers. Other schemes exist, but it is the only internationally
accepted standard that requires companies to provide proof. This proof
includes adhering to a fixed cut of date and providing evidence that
neither they nor their suppliers test after this date. Only then are
they endorsed by the HHPS.
In 1997 the UK Government introduced a policy prohibition on testing
cosmetic products on animals. A comparison can be made with the
animal testing of Household products because much of the criterion
that warranted a cosmetics testing ban can be applied to Household
products. Early Day Motion 1215 requests the British Government to
implement a similar ban for household products.
To ask to your MP to sign EDM 1215 go to
http://www.writetothem.com/
Further information on the HHPS from
http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/
Many non-animal research techniques exist that are cheaper, quicker
and more effective than Animal Testing. A few are molecular research,
computer simulations, tissue and organ culture and the use of micro-
organisms such as bacteria. The "Take Action" petition started by the
RSPCA calls on the British government to prove their intention to
replace animal experiments with modern non-animal alternatives.
You can sign this petition at http://www.rspca.org.uk
(Select campaigns then Animals in Research)
There is a conference at the Royal Society London 28-29 May 2008
called "Towards Reducing Animal Testing " on the subject of
Nanotechnology. The conference has useful information on developing
pharmaceuticals as well as the development of animal alternatives.
Information can be found on how to attend at the Institute of
Nanotechnology
http://www.nano.org.uk/
Best regards
Tony , London, England
