Beware: no longer cruelty free

I follow PETA.  I subscribe to their updates, partake in their action alerts, and while I don't always agree with their stance, I appreciate what they do and think there is a need for an organization to stand up for animals.  This came across the wire recently.  Earlier, I had posted regarding animal testing.  This is an issue important to me, and I go to great lengths to avoid products tested on animals.  Unfortunate, as I'd purchased from these companies in the past because they were on the "do not test" list.  Now I'll have to move them to my "boycott" list.

Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder Are Paying for Tests on Animals

For more than two decades, Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder have been among the largest mainstream international companies on PETA's cruelty-free lists. Avon banned all tests on animals following PETA's massive "Avon Killing" campaign, and Mary Kay pledged to go cruelty-free after cartoonist Berkeley Breathed mocked the company in his popular Bloom County comic strip. Since then, all three companies have enjoyed the support of PETA and millions of consumers who choose to buy cosmetics from companies that don't harm animals. But now we have learned that all three companies have been paying for tests on animals at the requirement of the Chinese government—and they did not inform PETA or consumers that their policies had changed. We have no choice but to downgrade them by placing them on our list of companies that test on animals.

When we learned that the Chinese government requires tests on animals before many cosmetics products can be marketed in China, we immediately contacted all three companies. While we understand that China is an enormous market that these companies aren't willing to ignore, we had hoped they would take action to eliminate this requirement or push for non-animal test methods to be accepted. Mary Kay had taken some steps to work with officials in China, and at our urging, promised to continue this effort—but Avon and Estee Lauder appear to have gone along with the painful animal tests without objection.

PETA is financially supporting the efforts of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), which is putting together a coalition of corporate experts, providing training for scientists in China in the use of non-animal test methods, and working with officials there to promote the acceptance of non-animal methods that are used in the U.S., the European Union, and much of the world.

Fortunately, there are still more than 1,000 companies on our "Don't Test" list whose products consumers can buy with a clear conscience.

Please take a moment to let Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder know that you are disappointed in their backsliding and that you will no longer buy the companies' products as long they are tested on animals.