Vivisection: The New American Oxford Dictionary defines this term as, “the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research.”

If you don’t know this term, you should familiarize yourself with this archaic and draconian practice. Cosmetic companies love that most consumers either don’t know what it is or don’t make a fuss over vivisection, allowing them to avoid lawsuits from the potentially harmful human ingestion of poisonous chemicals.

According to Jezebel, many cosmetic companies still test on animals without any conscious:

Companies like Aveda, Kiss My Face, Clinique, and Almay have stopped testing on animals or never started, but PETA’s list of companies that aren’t “cruelty-free” is still long and varied. The list includes brands like Always, Band-Aid, Febreze, and K.Y., so even if you try to buy cosmetics from animal-friendly brands, there’s still a good chance that other products you use are tested on animals.

Since many of the products are tested on animals at the base level, Vicki Katrinak, the administrator for the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics told the The New York Times:

Companies may say their products are “cruelty-free” or “not tested on animals,” she said, but their claims might refer only to the finished product, and not to specific ingredients (the bulk of animal testing happens on the ingredient level). Or they hire outside laboratories to do the testing for them.

Clearly, most bureaucrats rather have the damage done to animals than to themselves or there would be a more concerted effort to boycott the products. But realistically, for consumers, it’s just too hard to keep up with what is cruelty free or what’s not, especially if regulators at the Food and Drug Administration don’t take their jobs seriously.

Check Out PETA’s resource page to help you shop compassionately

Sound-Off: Do you care if your cosmetic products are tested on animals? Do you want stricter regulations on companies?

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