Anti Vivisection WA (Inc)

Choosing products that are "Cruelty Free" ensures that you are purchasing high quality products that have been produced without inflicting pain and suffering to animals. Big companies such as Charles Rivers Laboratories, Convance and Huntington Life Sciences make huge profits from testing on or selling animals to laboratories - Join us and say "NO ANIMAL TESTING!!!"

IS YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCT CRUELTY FREE?

Please find below the latest cruelty free guide available from Choose Cruelty Free (CCF). This means the companies listed here either comply or do not comply with CCF's stringent guidelines. Check to see if your favourite product is listed: 2006 Preferred Products List : from Choose Cruelty Free

WHAT ARE THE TESTS?

The most commonly used tests are the Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) and Draize Eye/Skin tests. The use of these tests has been restricted in some Australian states but these tests are still used extensively overseas where most research and development of new products takes place. Furthermore, some companies say they don't test on animals but in fact pay other companies to test the products on their behalf! The LD-50 Test The Draize Eye Test The Draize Skin/Patch Test

The LD-50 Test The LD-50 test is used to measure the acute toxicity levels of certain ingredients on live animals. LD-50 stands for Lethal Dose 50 Percent - the amount or concentration of a substance that will kill half of a test group of animals within a specified time period when that substance is forcibly ingested, inhaled or otherwise exposed to an animal. This does not mean 50% died but 50% survived!

During the test period, the animals typically suffer acute distress - pain, convulsions, discharge, diarrhea and bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth. At the end of the test period, those animals who have not already died (the 50% that survived) are then killed and their organs are examined. Apart from the "usual" rats, mice and rabbits used in laboratories, another widely used animal species in experimentation are Beagles. Beagles are mainly primarily sought after due to their placid and gentle natures (!)

Here harnessed so that he cannot lie down, a "breathing mask" will be attached so that the animal will directly inhale the test product (this may be oven cleaner, garden spray, paint solvents, fly spray, etc.) Animal technicians administer the "test" product, sit with the animal during the procedure (to ensure that the mask is not dislodged) and record test "results" after test has been completed. (They also remove the dead bodies.)

The Draize Eye Test
Concentrated substances are applied to the eyes of restrained unanaesthetised animals. This involves terrible, long-lasting pain with swelling, discharge, blistering and destruction of the cornea. At the end of the test period, all of the animals are killed in order to determine the effects of the tested substances on internal organs.

The Draize Skin/Patch Test In the Draize test for skin irritancy, the test substances are applied to shaved and abraded skin. (Skin is abraded by firmly pressing adhesive tape onto the animal's body and quickly stripping it off. The process is repeated until several layers of skin have been exposed.) Once again, ALL of the animals that survive test procedures are killed in order to determine the effects of the tested substances on internal organs.

Inside the secret world of the laboratory - NO ANIMAL EVER GETS OUT ALIVE!