They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Several years ago I took a speech class as I'm sure most of you have that have gone on to college. In this class I had to do several kinds of speeches: informative, argumentative and demonstrative. I love a good debate as long as it's something I'm passionate about and know something about. So, for my argumentative speech I chose to talk about animal testing in the cosmetic and household products industry. I was amazed by the number of people in the class that were completely unaware that this type of thing even goes on. My captive audience was shocked when I gave them the names of companies that do continue to do animal testing eventhough groups such as PETA have urged them to stop. I will not go into the gory details about what these companies do to animals let alone the type of people these companies employ that are paid to do these disgusting things to these creatures. It makes me crazy. You can look at the PETA website for yourself to find out that information. There's a link above and a link on the right of my blog.

My purpose here is to inform you of those companies that continue to test products on animals so you can be a better consumer. Do you really need to buy products from these companies or is it just laziness on the consumers part because "that's what I always buy"? The list of companies that do test is much shorter than the one's that don't. Cosmetics and household items are not required by law to be tested on animals, pharmaceuticals are. Which makes no sense to me and frankly, I say there's prisons all over this country chock full of subjects to do pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical testing on. That statement ought to get things rolling!

Companies such as Philosophy and Bath & Body Works have statements on the back of their products: "This finished product not tested on animals." That means in the past some ingredient in their product was tested on animals. However, if you purchase something from The Body Shop (see the link on my blog), their products state "Against Animal Testing." None of their products have any ingredients that have been tested on animals.

If you care to join me on this, I'm not asking you to be a fanatic and throw red paint on fur bearing humans, just be an educated shopper. Here's and abbreviated list of companies that continue to test on animals, for the complete list, check the PETA site:

• Bic
• Cheesebrough-Ponds (Faberge, Ponds, Vaseline)
• Church & Dwight (Aim, Arm & Hammer, Arrid, Brillo, Close-up, Lady's Choice, Nair)
• Clairol (Aussie, Daily Defense, Herbal Essences)
• Clorox
• Soft Scrub
• Colgate-Palmolive (Ajax, Fab, Hills Pet Nutrition, Mennen, Speed Stick)
• Coty (Glow, The Healing Garden, JOOP!, Kenneth Cole)
• Cover Girl
• Dial
• Helene Curtis (Finesse, Salon Selectives, Thermasilk)
• Johnson & Johnson (Aveeno9, Clean & Clear, Neutrogena)
• Kimberly-Clark (Cottonelle, Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex, Pull-Ups)
• L'Oreal (Cacharel, Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Lancome, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Redken)
• Noxell
• Olay Co.
• Playtex (Baby Magic, Banana Boat)
• Reckitt Benckiser (Easy Off, Lysol, Mop & Glo, Resolve, Spray 'n Wash)
• S.C. Johnson (Drano, Edge, Fantastick, Glade, OFF!, Shout, Windex, Ziploc)
• Suave
• 3M (Post-it, Scotch)

P.S. PETA has information on the site as well if you wish to help out with the recovery of animals lost or abandoned in the Gulf Coast.