snufkin
Jan 22nd, 2008, 08:01 PM
Just thought I would share this.
Upon researching about dove and unilever (whose products I used for years) and learning that they participate in animal testing, I sent them a little message (almost as an afterthought) after I threw my deodorants and soaps in the trash.
My message:
A product campaigning for real beauty shouldn't be connected
to the use of animal products or animal testing and abuse, which is
ugly. If your products do not test on animals or use animal ingredients
or by-products you should advertise it on the product itself. That would
be truly beautiful.
Their response:
Dear Miriam,
This responds to your recent inquiry regarding Unilever's policy on
animal testing. We recognize the concern of organizations such as PETA
and individuals such as you, with respect to this very complicated and
complex issue. Globally, Unilever is committed to the elimination of
animal testing. We would like to take this opportunity to outline our
initiatives in this area and the significant progress we have made
toward meeting this goal.
Our position is, and has historically been, that we do not test any
finished products on animals except where required by government
regulation. In such cases, as part of our ongoing commitment to
eliminate animal testing, we encourage the local authorities to change
these regulations. In addition, we do not use animal testing when there
is an accepted alternative test or existing information available to
evaluate the health impact and safety of our products. In further
pursuit of this goal, Unilever has committed a significant amount of
time, effort and funding to developing acceptable, non-animal
alternatives:
- Unilever currently spends approximately $4 million per year globally
to develop novel risk assessment approaches to assure safety without
animal testing, such as the development of biological and computer-based
modeling techniques. We believe these technologies will help replace
animal testing altogether.
- One of the major barriers to eliminating animal testing is the very
deliberate pace at which government authorities approve such
alternatives. In 2005, Unilever helped launch the European Partnership
for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA). The aim of this
initiative by the European Commission and industry is to increase and
coordinate efforts to significantly accelerate the rate at which
alternatives are agreed to, validated and put into practice. The
organization communicates regularly with a mirror group that includes
animal welfare organizations. Its goal is to ensure that every
opportunity is taken to refine, reduce and replace the use of animals.
- In the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, we continue to support the
passage of legislation that promotes the elimination of animal testing
through the development and acceptance of alternative methods.
As soon as non-animal alternatives are validated and accepted by
government authorities, they are accepted by us along with the many
companies and organizations with whom we collaborate.
We appreciate that you contacted us about this issue and we thank you
for your comments.
Sincerely,
Your friends at Unilever
what i find bewildering is how could actual people, a.k.a human beings, be paid off to conduct testing and experiments on animals? If there is something that needs to be tested due to suspicion of toxicity it shouldn't be used at all! ESPECIALLY FOR THINGS LIKE SOAP AND DEODORANT! :confused:
Upon researching about dove and unilever (whose products I used for years) and learning that they participate in animal testing, I sent them a little message (almost as an afterthought) after I threw my deodorants and soaps in the trash.
My message:
A product campaigning for real beauty shouldn't be connected
to the use of animal products or animal testing and abuse, which is
ugly. If your products do not test on animals or use animal ingredients
or by-products you should advertise it on the product itself. That would
be truly beautiful.
Their response:
Dear Miriam,
This responds to your recent inquiry regarding Unilever's policy on
animal testing. We recognize the concern of organizations such as PETA
and individuals such as you, with respect to this very complicated and
complex issue. Globally, Unilever is committed to the elimination of
animal testing. We would like to take this opportunity to outline our
initiatives in this area and the significant progress we have made
toward meeting this goal.
Our position is, and has historically been, that we do not test any
finished products on animals except where required by government
regulation. In such cases, as part of our ongoing commitment to
eliminate animal testing, we encourage the local authorities to change
these regulations. In addition, we do not use animal testing when there
is an accepted alternative test or existing information available to
evaluate the health impact and safety of our products. In further
pursuit of this goal, Unilever has committed a significant amount of
time, effort and funding to developing acceptable, non-animal
alternatives:
- Unilever currently spends approximately $4 million per year globally
to develop novel risk assessment approaches to assure safety without
animal testing, such as the development of biological and computer-based
modeling techniques. We believe these technologies will help replace
animal testing altogether.
- One of the major barriers to eliminating animal testing is the very
deliberate pace at which government authorities approve such
alternatives. In 2005, Unilever helped launch the European Partnership
for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA). The aim of this
initiative by the European Commission and industry is to increase and
coordinate efforts to significantly accelerate the rate at which
alternatives are agreed to, validated and put into practice. The
organization communicates regularly with a mirror group that includes
animal welfare organizations. Its goal is to ensure that every
opportunity is taken to refine, reduce and replace the use of animals.
- In the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, we continue to support the
passage of legislation that promotes the elimination of animal testing
through the development and acceptance of alternative methods.
As soon as non-animal alternatives are validated and accepted by
government authorities, they are accepted by us along with the many
companies and organizations with whom we collaborate.
We appreciate that you contacted us about this issue and we thank you
for your comments.
Sincerely,
Your friends at Unilever
what i find bewildering is how could actual people, a.k.a human beings, be paid off to conduct testing and experiments on animals? If there is something that needs to be tested due to suspicion of toxicity it shouldn't be used at all! ESPECIALLY FOR THINGS LIKE SOAP AND DEODORANT! :confused: