Vivisection is the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research. Animals are intentionally blinded, blistered and poisoned, for a company to offer shinier hair, clean toilets or sparkly teeth; they are imprisoned, tortured and when their usefulness is outlived, usually killed.

Rabbits are commonly used in animal testing and often break their backs or necks to get out of restraints as they attempt to escape the pain of an ulcerated eye, which occurs because unlike humans, rabbits do not have tear ducts and cannot flush toxic substances out of their eyes.

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The Humane Guide is list of all companies endorsed for their humane status by Beauty without Cruelty. These companies have been audited by BWC and have proved they do not test their products on animals by passing our criteria.

You can get anything from sunblock to shampoo, toothpaste to toilet-cleaner, mascara to moisturiser and aftershave to aqueous cream, BWC has over 120 brands endorsed, and the list is growing!

Many big name products we see on our supermarket shelves and in our department store cosmetic counters have been tested on animals.  Because animal testing is so prevalent, it is far more practical to audit individual companies to endorse with the Humane Guide than it is to provide a list of products that are tested on animals in which to avoid. As an overview here are an example of a few major companies and their brands that test on animals.

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Many large companies claim that they don’t test their products on animals or that they don’t support animal testing. In many cases they go through great lengths to use deceptive PR methods and clever wording to conceal this information.

A few ways in which a company may do is:

1. The company claims the final product has not been tested on animals, but the separate ingredients for their products have been tested on animals.
2. The company doesn’t test on animals, but a parent company or subsidiary company still tests it’s final product on product ingredients on animals.
3. The company itself doesn’t test on animals, but outsources the animal testing to a third party.
4. The company does not test on animals themselves but continue to buy, use and benefit financially from chemical ingredients that have recently been tested on animals by their suppliers.

Should a company not be listed in our Humane Guide, but they are certain that their products are humane and will pass our criteria, then ask them to apply to be listed on our Humane Guide. Never rely solely only on a company’s word. If their products are truly humanely manufactured and not tested on animals, then they should be able to pass our basic criteria and Beauty without Cruelty would be happy to endorse them.

The Advertising Standards Authority states that companies must be able to provide proof of their humane claims. BWC is an accepted independent organisationable to audit such proof.

More reading: How to spot an Animal Testing Company?

If a product says things like No animal testing / Cruelty Free / Against animal testing etc. on their packaging or website it does not mean it is true.  This is a common tactic used in deceptive marketing and labelling.

A product can only be certified as “humane” if they are endorsed by a third independent party. The strictest third parties are The Leaping Bunny (Internationally) and Beauty Without Cruelty (South Africa). If your company does not test on animals in any form, then please check our criteria and apply for endorsement to get listed in our Humane Guide.