
Editor's note: Shortly after this issue went to press, Mexico banned animal testing for cosmetics. We've updated the number of countries with such bans in the copy below. When Julia Fentem began her career in toxicology around 1990, there was one government-sanctioned way of proving cosmetics safety...
This evening, Maine governor Janet Mills signed legislation to prohibit the sale of cosmetics that have been newly tested on animals. Passage of this law will prevent the cruel and unnecessary use of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats to test cosmetic products and ingredients. Maine is now the...
Yesterday, Gov. Phil Murphy, D-NJ, signed legislation to end the sale of cosmetics in New Jersey that have been newly tested on animals, preventing the cruel and unnecessary use of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats in cosmetics safety assessments. Animals used in cosmetics testing suffer through...
Contents How many animals are used in experiments each year? Which animals are used in experiments? What kinds of experiments are animals used in? What kinds of institutions use animals in experiments? Where do laboratories get the animals they use in experiments? What is life like for animals in...
Contents What products are considered cosmetics? Is animal testing legally required for cosmetics sold in the United States? Where is cosmetics testing on animals mandatory? Where is cosmetics testing on animals banned? Why do some cosmetics companies still use animal testing? What cosmetics tests...
Are animal experiments being conducted in your city/state or at your university or alma mater? Use the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s public search tool to find out! The Animal Welfare Act* requires facilities in the U.S. that conduct experiments on certain animals to register with the USDA...
The #BeCrueltyFree campaign has issued a public call urging L’Oréal to support legislative efforts to ban cosmetic animal testing and sales worldwide. Despite more than 200 companies in the cosmetics industry having already thrown their weight behind the campaign and legislation, L’Oréal — one of...

In the late 1960s, a shy teenager in Georgia read an article in her local newspaper about animals being used in laboratory testing. She was outraged. She imagined the agony these animals must have endured and was moved to write a letter to the paper. “I remember it was sort of a rebuttal to what had...

Teddy, a beagle saved from a Michigan research lab in 2019 after an HSUS undercover investigation at Charles River Laboratories, is now the namesake for important bipartisan legislation in the Michigan House that could drive progress for laboratory animals. Teddy’s Law is comprised of two bills. H.B...

Lucy and Ricky came to live with us when I was 9, maybe 10 years old. They were beautiful hamsters, with soft, tufty auburn fur, and they’d been surrendered by their previous owner at a pet store. My soft-hearted dad couldn’t resist the pair. We knew they couldn’t remain together, so we placed them...
WASHINGTON—Today, the Humane Society of the United States revealed the results of an approximately seven-month undercover investigation at Inotiv, an animal testing laboratory in Indiana where thousands of animals, including dogs, primates, pigs, mice and rats are killed every year. The...
Contents How many dogs are used in experiments every year? What kinds of experiments are dogs used in? What kinds of institutions use dogs in experiments? Which laboratories in the U.S. have the largest number of dogs in their possession? Where do laboratories get the dogs they use in experiments...
The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund praise California Gov. Jerry Brown for signing groundbreaking legislation that prohibits the sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals. The law is the first of its kind in North America. SB 1249, championed by...
Animal testing of cosmetic products and ingredients, and the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics, would be phased out under legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Passage of the Humane Cosmetics Act, H.R.2858, will bring the U.S. in line with more than 30 other countries—home...