Cruelty-free

Label regarding animal rights

Laboratory rat

In the animal rights movement, cruelty-free is a label for products or activities that do not harm or kill animals anywhere in the world. Products tested on animals or made from animals are not considered cruelty-free, since these tests are often painful and cause the suffering and death of millions of animals every year.[1][needs update]

## History

[edit]

Reconstruction of a 1903 demonstration by William Bayliss, a physiologist at University College London, during which anti-vivisectionists said a dog was vivisected without anaesthetic.

The term cruelty-free was first used in this way by Lady Dowding who persuaded manufacturers of fake furs to use the label Beauty Without Cruelty and went on to found the charity Beauty Without Cruelty in 1959.[2] The term was popularised in the US in the 1970s by Marcia Pearson who founded the group Fashion With Compassion.[3] Then, in 1998, the United Kingdom started a trend by banning all testing on animals. Many other countries followed their lead soon after.[4]

## Campaigns

[edit]

In 1957 Charles Hume and W. M. S. Russell introduced the concept of the three R's in their book Principles of Humane Experimental Technique. These techniques to reduce animals used in tests and their suffering include: replacement (eliminate an animal test altogether), reduction (fewer animals used in test by using statistical analysis) and refinement (making tests less painful).[5]

In 1991 the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) was established "to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods which are important to the biosciences and which reduce, refine or replace the use of laboratory animals."[6] Once the ECVAM's Scientific Advisory Committee approves a test it must be used under the Animal Protection Act, which does not allow the use of animals when an alternative exists.

In 2012, British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection joined forces with New England Anti-Vivisection Society and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments to create an international organization to campaign against animal testing. BUAV supporter Ricky Gervais[7] announced the campaign—now considered a deciding factor in the European decision to ban animal testing for personal-care products. Although companies can still use animal testing in countries outside Europe, such as China, which requires animal testing on all imported cosmetics - Note that China now has new legislation in place under CSAR which details methods to enter the Chinese cosmetic market without the need for animal testing.[8] The Leaping Bunny applies to a company's global market, and does not certify product that use animal testing anywhere in the world.

## Tests

[edit]

Main article: Testing cosmetics on animals

Animals such as rabbits, rats, mice, and guinea pigs are sometimes forced to eat or inhale substances, or have a cosmetic ingredient rubbed onto their shaved skin, eyes or ears every day for 28 or 90 days to see if they have an allergic reaction. Then they are killed and cut open to examine the effects the ingredient has on internal organs. These tests are also done with pregnant animals who, after much suffering, are killed along with the fetus. In more prolonged carcinogen tests, rats are force-fed a cosmetic ingredient over two years, monitored for cancer, and then killed.[9]

> “Typically a young rabbit is tightly constrained in a box so that he is unable to move... Clips sometimes hold his eyelids open. Anesthesia is not generally administered. A researcher applies a concentrated substance to the outer layer of the eye and observes over a span days or weeks for responses such as blindness, bleeding, hemorrhaging and ulceration. At the end, the rabbits are generally killed.”

> — Megan Erin Gallagher[10]

Primates, dogs, such as the Beagle, and cats are used for invasive experimentation as well. Many laboratories use these species to test drugs, chemicals, and diseases, whether old or new.

## Alternatives

[edit]

As technology developed, outdated animal testing is being replaced with quicker, cheaper and more accurate methods. Critics point out that humane alternatives can be slow to implement, costly, and test only one compound at a time.[11] Alternatives have shown positive results. For example, reconstructed human epidermis—which uses human skin donated from cosmetic surgery to replace the rabbit Draize skin test—is more relevant to human reactions. Other methods replace the Draize eye test by using in vitro (test-tube) human tissue. Computer-based systems allow for isolation of a select tissue or organ to conduct tests in an extremely controlled environment. These tests not only reduce animal testing, but are more precise and accurate at protecting humans from toxic substances.[12] Another cruelty-free option is using ingredients that have already been established as safe, such as the 20,000 ingredients in the European Union database.

## Products

[edit]

Companies now offer a wide range of cruelty-free products such as cosmetics, personal-care products, household cleaners, clothing, shoes, condoms (which are sometimes processed with casein), and candles (which usually use paraffin or beeswax). Organizations such as PETA, Choose Cruelty Free, Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, and its offshoot organization Cruelty Free International have released lists of cruelty-free products and cruel products to boycott. Since the 1990s the Leaping Bunny has been the only international third-party cruelty-free certification program.

It is important to distinguish between cruelty free and vegan products because while it is common for people to use these two terms interchangeably, there are several key differences.[13] Products that are vegan may not necessarily be cruelty free and vice versa. The cruelty free label only guarantees that the final product and ingredients are not tested on animals, but the product can still contain animal derived ingredients.[14] Similarly, the vegan label only guarantees that the product does not contain animal ingredients but may still have been tested on animals.

## Events

[edit]

National Cruelty-Free Week is an event in the United Kingdom every year arranged by the BUAV. The 2006 event was from 17 to 23 July. Other, similar, events include: National Vegetarian Week, UK Vegan Week and World Vegan Day, which takes place each year on November 1.

## Criticisms

[edit]

An example of a generic rabbit icon; such icons are often used by manufacturers to intentionally confuse consumers into believing that a product is "cruelty-free".

While some manufacturers have begun to label their products as "not tested on animals", "we do not conduct animal testing", "never tested on animals", "against animal testing" or "cruelty-free", these labels are confusing and potentially misleading, since there is no clear legal definition as to what they mean.[15] Two organizations, Cruelty Free International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, use rabbit icons to verify products as "cruelty-free", resulting in some manufacturers using rabbit icons to intentionally deceive customers into believing that their products do not use animal testing. The symbol of a rabbit is commonly understood by consumers as verifying a product as "cruelty-free", but most consumers cannot easily distinguish the CFI and PETA rabbit logos from other rabbit icons.[16]

## See also

[edit]

* Animal liberationist
* Animal rights
* Animal welfare
* Ethical consumerism
* Veganism

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Andre, Claire; Velasquez, Manuel. "Of Cures and Creatures Great and Small". Santa Clara University. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
2. ^ Bekoff, Marc; Meaney, Carron A. (1998), Encyclopedia of animal rights and animal welfare, Greenwood Press, p. 139, ISBN 978-0-313-29977-3
3. ^ Joanne Stepaniak, Virginia Messina (2000), "The Body Beautiful", The Vegan Sourcebook, McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 978-0-7373-0506-7
4. ^ "Timeline: Cosmetics testing on animals". The Humane Society of the United States. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
5. ^ Balls, Michael (7 January 1994). "Replacement of animal procedures: alternatives in research, education and testing". Laboratory Animals. 28 (3): 193–211\. doi:10.1258/002367794780681714. PMID 7967458.
6. ^ Curren, Roger (November–December 2000). "From inhumane to in vitro: The changing face of science". The Animals' Agenda. 20 (6): 22. ProQuest 215888290.
7. ^ Caroline Frost (15 March 2012), "Ricky Gervais Fronts Cruelty Free International Crusade To End Cosmetic Tests On Animals", Huffington Post
8. ^ "Key changes in China's new cosmetics regulation (CSAR)". www.cosmeticsbusiness.com. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
9. ^ "Animal Tests & Alternatives". Cruelty Free International. Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
10. ^ Gallagher, Megan Erin (2003). "Toxicity Testing Requirements, Methods and Proposed Alternatives" (PDF). Environs. 26 (2): 253.
11. ^ Curren, Roger (November–December 2000). "From inhumane to in vitro: The changing face of science". The Animals' Agenda. 20 (6): 22. ProQuest 215888290.
12. ^ Curren, Roger (November–December 2000). "From inhumane to in vitro: The changing face of science". The Animals' Agenda. 20 (6): 22. ProQuest 215888290.
13. ^ Martinko, Katherine. "What Is the Difference Between Vegan and Cruelty-Free Makeup?". Treehugger. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
14. ^ "What Do 'Vegan' And 'Cruelty-Free' Mean?". Faith In Nature. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
15. ^ Winders, Delcianna (2006). "Combining Reflexive Law and False Advertising Law to Standardize Cruelty-Free Labeling of Cosmetics". N.Y.U. L. Rev. 81: 454. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
16. ^ "Cruelty-Free? Don't Believe All the Cute Bunny Labels". Eye on Design. 2022-09-29. Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2025-02-06.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Riggs, Damien W.; Rosenberg, Shoshana; Fraser, Heather; Taylor, Nik (2021). "Consumption, Consumerism, and Kink". Queer Entanglements: Intersections of Gender, Sexuality, and Animal Companionship. Cambridge University Press. pp. 157–167\. ISBN 9781108488860.
* Thew, Michelle (2013). "Cruelty-free labelling". In Linzey, Andrew (ed.). The Global Guide to Animal Protection. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252094897.

## External links

[edit]

* Cruelty Free International
* World Development Movement Archived 2015-01-02 at the Wayback Machine
* PETA Cruelty Free List
* Go Cruelty Free
* Choose Cruelty Free

* v
* t
* e

Animal rights

Topics (overviews, concepts, issues, cases)

| Overviews|

* Animal rights movement
* Animal rights by country or territory
* Anarchism and animal rights
* Animal rights and punk subculture
* Animal cruelty–Holocaust analogies
* Animal rights in Indian religions
* Christianity and animal rights
* History of animal rights
* List of international animal welfare conventions
* Moral status of animals in the ancient world
* Timeline of animal welfare and rights
* Total liberation
* Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare

|

Concepts|

* Abolitionism
* Ahimsa
* Animal cognition
* Animal consciousness
* Animal–industrial complex
* Animal law
* Animal protectionism
* Animal welfare
* Animal-free agriculture
* Anthropocentrism
* Argument from marginal cases
* Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness
* Carnism
* Equal consideration of interests
* Emotion in animals
* Ethics of eating meat
* Ethics of uncertain sentience
* Insects in ethics
* Intrinsic value
* Meat paradox
* Moral circle expansion
* Nonviolence
* Nonkilling
* Open rescue
* Opposition to hunting
* Personism
* Replaceability argument
* Sentientism
* Speciesism
* Veganism
* Vegaphobia
* Vegetarianism

Issues|

| Animal agriculture|

* Animal product
* Battery cage
* Bile bear
* Chick culling
* Crocodile farm
* Concentrated animal feeding operation
* Fish farming
* Fur farming
* Fur trade
* Insect farming
* Intensive animal farming
* Intensive pig farming
* Livestock
* Poultry farming
* Slaughterhouse
* Wildlife farming
* Working animal
* Feedback (pork industry)
* Foam depopulation
* Ventilation shutdown

|

Animal testing|

* Alternatives to animal testing
* Animal testing on non-human primates
* Animal testing regulations
* Great ape research ban
* Green Scare
* Huntingdon Life Sciences
* Model organism
* Nafovanny
* Operation Backfire
* Vivisection

Animal welfare|

* Animal euthanasia
* Cruelty to animals
* Pain in animals
* Pain in amphibians
* Pain in cephalopods
* Pain in crustaceans
* Pain in fish
* Pain in invertebrates
* Pain and suffering in laboratory animals
* Welfare of farmed insects

Fishing|

* Commercial fishing
* Fishing bait
* Recreational fishing

Wild animals|

* Culling wildlife
* Hare coursing
* Hunting
* International primate trade
* Ivory trade
* Predation problem
* Seal hunting
* Wild animal suffering
* Wildlife management

Other|

* Abandoned pets
* Animal captivity
* Animal sacrifice
* Animal slaughter
* Animal trial
* Animals in sport
* Blood sport
* Live food
* Live export

Cases|

* Brown Dog affair
* Cambridge University primates
* McLibel case
* Monkey selfie copyright dispute
* Pit of despair
* SHAC
* Silver Spring monkeys
* University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid
* Unnecessary Fuss
* War of the currents

Studies|

* Animal ethics
* Anthrozoology
* Critical animal studies
* Ethology
* Vegan studies

Methodologies|

* Direct Action Everywhere
* Hunt sabotage

Observances|

* World Animal Day
* World Day for the End of Speciesism
* World Day for Laboratory Animals
* World Day for the End of Fishing
* World Vegan Day
* World Vegetarian Day

Advocates (academics, writers, activists)

| Academics
and writers|

| Contemporary|

* Carol J. Adams
* Aysha Akhtar
* Kristin Andrews
* Marc Bekoff
* Steven Best
* Paola Cavalieri
* Stephen R. L. Clark
* Alasdair Cochrane
* J. M. Coetzee
* Alice Crary
* David DeGrazia
* Daniel Dombrowski
* Sue Donaldson
* Josephine Donovan
* Joan Dunayer
* Mylan Engel
* Catia Faria
* Lawrence Finsen
* Michael W. Fox
* Gary L. Francione
* Robert Garner
* Valéry Giroux
* Lori Gruen
* John Hadley
* Oscar Horta
* Dale Jamieson
* Kyle Johannsen
* Melanie Joy
* Hilda Kean
* Will Kymlicka
* Renan Larue
* Thomas Lepeltier
* Andrew Linzey
* Clair Linzey
* Dan Lyons
* David Nibert
* Martha Nussbaum
* Clare Palmer
* Charles Patterson
* David Pearce
* Jessica Pierce
* Evelyn Pluhar
* Mark Rowlands
* Richard D. Ryder
* Steve F. Sapontzis
* Jeff Sebo
* Jérôme Segal
* Peter Singer
* Gary Steiner
* Cass Sunstein
* David Sztybel
* Michael Tye
* Tatjana Višak
* Paul Waldau
* Corey Lee Wrenn

|

Historical|

* Tom Beauchamp
* Jeremy Bentham
* David Renaud Boullier
* Stephen St. C. Bostock
* Brigid Brophy
* Peter Buchan
* Mona Caird
* Priscilla Cohn
* Henry Crowe
* Herman Daggett
* Richard Dean
* Wilhelm Dietler
* William Hamilton Drummond
* Edward Payson Evans
* T. Forster
* John Galsworthy
* Thomas G. Gentry
* V. A. Holmes-Gore
* Arthur Helps
* John Hildrop
* John Zephaniah Holwell
* Soame Jenyns
* Marie Jungius
* Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
* John Lawrence
* Charles R. Magel
* Jean Meslier
* Mary Midgley
* J. Howard Moore
* José Ferrater Mora
* Leonard Nelson
* Edward Nicholson
* Siobhan O'Sullivan
* John Oswald
* Rod Preece
* Humphrey Primatt
* James Rachels
* Tom Regan
* Nathaniel Peabody Rogers
* Bernard Rollin
* Henry Stephens Salt
* Arthur Schopenhauer
* Laurids Smith
* John Styles
* Thomas Tryon
* Gary Varner
* Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann
* Mary Anne Warren
* Adam Gottlieb Weigen
* Johann Heinrich Winckler
* Steven M. Wise
* Jon Wynne-Tyson
* Voltaire
* Thomas Young

Activists|

| Contemporary|

* James Aspey
* Greg Avery
* Matt Ball
* Martin Balluch
* Carole Baskin
* Barbi Twins
* Brigitte Bardot
* Gene Baur
* Yves Bonnardel
* Joey Carbstrong
* Aymeric Caron
* Jake Conroy
* Rod Coronado
* Karen Dawn
* Chris DeRose
* John Feldmann
* Bruce Friedrich
* Juliet Gellatley
* Tal Gilboa
* Antoine Goetschel
* Mark Gold
* Brigitte Gothière
* Alex Hershaft
* Wayne Hsiung
* Charlotte Laws
* Ronnie Lee
* Howard Lyman
* Evanna Lynch
* Bill Maher
* Keith Mann
* Jim Mason
* Dan Mathews
* Joaquin Phoenix
* Jo-Anne McArthur
* Luísa Mell
* Virginia McKenna
* Morrissey
* Ingrid Newkirk
* Heather Nicholson
* Jack Norris
* Ric O'Barry
* David Olivier
* Alex Pacheco
* Craig Rosebraugh
* Jasmin Singer
* Kim Stallwood
* Lynda Stoner
* Marianne Thieme
* Darren Thurston
* Christine Townend
* Wendy Turner-Webster
* Jerry Vlasak
* Louise Wallis
* Ed Winters
* Gary Yourofsky
* That Vegan Teacher

|

Historical|

* Cleveland Amory
* Henry B. Amos
* Bob Barker
* Ernest Bell
* William Brown
* Edith Carrington
* Frances Power Cobbe
* Joan Court
* Karen Davis
* Royal Dixon
* Muriel Dowding
* Elizabeth Farians
* Emarel Freshel
* André Géraud
* Lewis Gompertz
* James Granger
* Barry Horne
* Marie Huot
* Lizzy Lind af Hageby
* Jessie Mackay
* Alfred Mansfield Mitchell
* J. Isaac Pengelly
* Norm Phelps
* Jill Phipps
* Maud Ingersoll Probasco
* Hans Ruesch
* Magnus Schwantje
* Nell Shipman
* Henry Spira
* Joseph Stratton
* Andrew Tyler
* Gretchen Wyler

Movement (groups, parties)

| Groups|

| Contemporary|

* American Anti-Vivisection Society
* Animal Aid
* Animal Ethics
* Animal Justice
* Animal Justice Project
* Animal Legal Defense Fund
* Animal Liberation
* Animal Liberation Front
* Animal Liberation Press Office
* Animal Liberation Victoria
* Animal Rights Militia
* Animal Rising
* AnimaNaturalis
* Anti-Vivisection Coalition
* Anonymous for the Voiceless
* Beauty Without Cruelty
* Born Free Foundation
* Centre for Animals and Social Justice
* Chinese Animal Protection Network
* Cruelty Free International
* Direct Action Everywhere
* Doctors Against Animal Experiments
* Equanimal
* Every Animal
* Farm Animal Rights Movement
* Faunalytics
* Great Ape Project
* Hunt Saboteurs Association
* In Defense of Animals
* Korea Animal Rights Advocates
* L214
* Last Chance for Animals
* Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition
* Mercy for Animals
* Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
* Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade
* Rise for Animals
* Sentience Politics
* Uncaged Campaigns
* United Activists for Animal Rights
* United Poultry Concerns
* UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics
* Viva!
* Voice for Animals Humane Society
* Voiceless

|

Historical|

* Canadian Anti-Vivisection Society
* Humanitarian League (1891–1919)
* Millennium Guild
* Order of the Golden Age
* Oxford Group

Parties|

* Animal Justice Party (Australia)
* Animal Politics EU (Europe)
* Animal Protection Party of Canada (Canada)
* Animal Justice Party of Finland (Finland)
* Animals' Party (Sweden)
* Animalist Movement (Italy)
* Animalist Party with the Environment (Spain)
* DierAnimal (Belgium)
* Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Germany)
* Italian Animalist Party (Italy)
* Party for the Animals (Netherlands)
* People Animals Nature (Portugal)
* V-Partei³ (Germany)

Activism|

* Animal Rights National Conference

Media (books, films, periodicals, albums)

| Books|

* On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
* The Cry of Nature (1791)
* An Essay on Humanity to Animals (1798)
* Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
* The Rights of Animals (1838)
* The Ethics of Diet (1883)
* A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays (1886)
* Animals' Rights (1892)
* Evolutional Ethics and Animal Psychology (1897)
* Better-World Philosophy (1899)
* The Logic of Vegetarianism (1899)
* The Universal Kinship (1906)
* The New Ethics (1907)
* Animals, Men and Morals (1971)
* Animal Liberation (1975)
* The Case for Animal Rights (1983)
* Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987)
* Zoos and Animal Rights (1993)
* Animals, Property, and the Law (1995)
* The Lives of Animals (1999)
* Eternal Treblinka (2001)
* Do Animals Have Rights? (2005)
* Striking at the Roots (2008)
* An American Trilogy (2009)
* An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (2010)
* Animal Rights Without Liberation (2012)
* Political Animals and Animal Politics (2014)
* Animal (De)liberation (2016)
* Sentientist Politics (2018)
* Wild Animal Ethics (2020)
* Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022)
* Making a Stand for Animals (2022)
* Animal Rights Law (2023)
* The Moral Circle (2025)

|

Films|

* The Animals Film (1981)
* A Cow at My Table (1998)
* Shores of Silence (2000)
* The Witness (2000)
* Meet Your Meat (2002)
* Legally Blonde 2 (2003)
* The Meatrix (2003)
* Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
* Earthlings (2005)
* Behind the Mask (2006)
* Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007)
* Food, Inc. (2009)
* The Cove (2009)
* Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home (2009)
* Forks Over Knives (2011)
* Vegucated (2011)
* An Apology to Elephants (2013)
* Speciesism: The Movie (2013)
* The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013)
* Unlocking the Cage (2016)
* Land of Hope and Glory (2017)
* Carnage (2017)
* Okja (2017)
* Dominion (2018)
* Seaspiracy (2021)

Periodicals|

| Journals|

* Animal Sentience
* Between the Species
* Cahiers antispécistes
* Etica & Animali
* Journal of Animal Ethics
* Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism
* The Animals' Defender

|

Magazines|

* Arkangel
* Bite Back
* Muutoksen kevät
* No Compromise
* Satya

Albums|

* Animal Liberation (1987)
* Tame Yourself (1991)
* Manifesto (2008)
* Salvation of Innocents (2014)
* Onward to Freedom (2014)

Fairs and exhibitions|

* Holocaust on your Plate (2003)

* Category ( 136 )

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