HYDERABAD : Ever realised the Vaseline petroleum jelly that you apply to keep your lips soft and supple, the Clean and Clear facewash you use for clear and pimple-free skin or the Olay fairness cream you use for instant fairness and glow might have crippled thousands of rabbits, burnt the entrails of hundreds of rats or blind a large number of guinea pigs during trails in labs somewhere in China or the west.
For Ashwaty Naik, an animal lover, who also loves trying out new beauty product that makes a foray in the market, says she never gave much thought about the way animals were treated during experimentation until government banned use of animal testing in beauty industry this May.
“I was aghast to read that animals were treated so brutally. Like humans they also have life. I thought what if my cats were put through such pain,” says Ashwaty, who now checks if the newly launched product has been tested on animals before buying the products. Echoing Ashwaty’s thought is Rina Reddy a school psychologist,”Cruelty aginst animal is the reason why I don’t use cosmetics at all. There is barely any awareness about such products.”
It is in line with such humane thoughts and owing to the long fight put up by animal protection bodies that on October 13, the Indian Government imposed a ban on import of animal tested cosmetics by the government.
Humane Society International-India’s (HSI) “Be Cruelty Free” campaign was one such step in this direction. Explaing the ban HSI’s Alokparna Sengupta says, post banning of animal testing for beauty products in May, most companies have stopped the practice and with the ban on imports coming into enforcement in a months time, consumers can use any product with the assurance that it has not been tested on animals.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, another pro-life body that is also a member of the Bureau of Indian Standards and championed the cause of animal-tested beauty products. “With advancements in technology, we have developed non-animal methods of testing, which are ethically and financially better,” informs PETA’s science policy adviser Dr Chaitanya Kodur. India’s decisions to act tough on companies dealing with animal cruelty has made it first country in South Asia become cruelty-free cosmetics zone. Ban by European Union and Israel and now India is forcing other countries to take heed too. The activists are confident that implementation of the new law will not be a problem as companies which are found guilty of violation will lose their licence to trade in India.