Household product © istockphoto.com/wakila

There is no legal definition of a ‘household product’, but most of us would understand the term to mean products like washing powder, cleaning fluids, air-fresheners, disinfectants and polishes.

For all types of substance or product, we believe that animal tests should be replaced with humane alternative methods. However, the RSPCA has always campaigned against the use of animals to test products such as cosmetics, toiletries and household cleaners - even if alternative methods of testing do not yet exist. We believe that there are more than sufficient such products already available, and that there is no justification for causing animals to suffer to develop more.


A ban on animal testing 

In line with a pledge made by the coalition government when it came to power, Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone announced (on 18th July 2011) their intention to ‘ban’ the use of animals to test household products.

The proposed ban may sound good, but will actually have very little impact. Out of 3.6 million animals used in experiments in the UK during 2010, just 24 were recorded as used for testing household products and zero were used the year before.

Furthermore, the ban will not guarantee that all household products are ‘cruelty free’ because it only applies to the testing of ‘finished’ products. In fact, products are very rarely tested as such - animal testing is done on the chemicals used as ingredients. These may still be tested on animals to satisfy general chemicals legislation.

This ban will therefore impress few people unless it is followed by more substantial progress in other areas of safety testing where tens of thousands of animals continue to suffer.

The RSPCA believes that the current legal requirement - to weigh the harms caused to animals against the benefits of testing before granting a licence to use animals - should be more rigorously applied. The need for each new product should be taken into account regardless of whether they are intended for use in the household or elsewhere.

Our views on the 'ban' were submitted to the Home Office in response to a targeted consultation: RSPCA response to Home Office consultation on banning household products testing using animals (2011) (PDF 418KB)
 

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