Pakistan becomes part of campaign to end cosmetic testing on animals

The Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has become a part of the global campaign against the use of animals in cosmetics testing.

PAWS, a non-governmental organization, has brought the campaign to the country through collaboration with The Body Shop Pakistan. The campaign aims to end testing of cosmetics on animals worldwide, for which 250,000 signatures will be collected by August 20 this year.

These signatures will be collected to internationally exhibit the image of Pakistan and to invite United Nations to gather countries to promote this message to end animal testing.

Earlier, The Body Shop Pakistan also teamed up with Cruelty Free International to end cosmetic product and ingredient animal testing globally. They are the first international beauty brand to fight against animal testing. Together, both the companies aimed to collect eight million signatures via this campaign. The collective efforts of both organizations resulted in a European Union ban in 2013.

PAWS has urged Pakistanis to join their campaign by signing an online petition and volunteering to collect signatures on forms available in Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Multan, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

According to PAWS statement, many chemicals and cosmetic products like shampoo, foundation, mascara and mouthwash are tested on the skin, eyes and digestive systems of animals. Rabbits and beetles are the most victimized animals among all.

They are routinely tested from these toxic chemicals, which are dripped on their eyes, lips, and skin to see how long it takes to burn their corneas. They are also forced to swallow such products just to check whether it will be the cause of their death. Animals are usually killed at the end of such experiments.

“Each time we apply that eyeliner, that purple lipstick or spray ourselves with a bug repellent, spare a thought for all the innocent animals that have suffered such cruelty,” PAWS co-founder and director Mahera Omar said in the statement. “Let’s demand an end to animal testing worldwide,” she added.

Around 80% countries do not have laws against animal testing including United States, as per The Body Shop’s official website. According to PAWS, around 500,000 animals are killed every year due to these cosmetics testing and 1,400 animals can die by the use of just one ingredient in a product.