Cruelty Free International is a British

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

and advocacy group that campaigns for the abolition of all

animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted ...

. It organises certification of

cruelty-free In the animal rights movement, cruelty-free is a label for products or activities that do not harm or kill animals anywhere in the world. Products animal testing, tested on animals or made from animals are not considered cruelty-free, since these ...

products which are marked with the symbol of a

leaping bunny Cosmetic testing on animals is a type of animal testing used to test the safety and hypoallergenic properties of cosmetic products for use by humans. Since this type of animal testing is often harmful to the animal subjects, it is opposed by ...

. It was founded in 1898 by Irish writer and

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Frances Power Cobbe Frances Power Cobbe (4 December 1822 – 5 April 1904) was an Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, religious thinker, social reformer, anti-vivisection activist and leading women's suffrage campaigner. She founded a number of animal advocacy grou ...

as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. In 2012, the BUAV joined with the New England Anti-Vivisection Society to establish a new international organisation to campaign against the testing of cosmetics on animals—Cruelty Free International. This was launched by BUAV supporter

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

. In 2015, the parent organisation merged into this new organization, taking its name and branding for all its activities.

Background

The BUAV was formed in response to the

National Anti-Vivisection Society The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an international non-profit Animal welfare, animal protection group, based in London, working to end animal testing, and focused on the replacement of animals in research with advanced, scientific t ...

(NAVS) supporting restrictive legislative proposals under

Stephen Coleridge Stephen William Buchanan Coleridge (31 May 1854 – 10 April 1936) was an English author, barrister, opponent of vivisection, and co-founder of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Biography Coleridge was the second ...

.French, Richard D. (2019). ''Antivivisection and Medical Science in Victorian Society''. Princeton University Press. pp. 162-166. Frances Power Cobbe did not want the Society to promote any measure short of abolition so she founded BUAV on 14 June 1898 during a public meeting in Bristol. Known at first as the British Union, or "the Union", it campaigned against the use of dogs in

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal test ...

, and came close to achieving success with the 1919 Dogs (Protection) Bill, which almost became law.

Walter Hadwen Walter Robert Hadwen (3 August 1854 – 27 December 1932) was an English general practitioner, pharmaceutical chemist and writer. He was president of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and an anti-vaccination campaigner ...

was president and chaired meetings for BUAV. Its secretary was Beatrice E. Kidd. In 1929, BUAV had 91 branches including two in Australia. In 1949, the

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

branch of BUAV had the largest membership in the country. President of the Worthing branch the Rev. Charles A. Hall stated that they had 1678 members and over 2000 new subscribers. Tentative discussion toward amalgamation with the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), during the early 1960s under NAVS's Committee Secretary,

Wilfred Risdon Wilfred Risdon (28 January 1896 – 11 March 1967) was a British trade union organizer, a founder member of the British Union of Fascists and an antivivisection campaigner. His life and career encompassed coal mining, trade union work, First Wo ...

, could not be successfully concluded. During this period the president was Albert Belden. The president from 1972 to 1979 was Betty Earp. In recent years, it successfully lobbied the British government into abolishing the oral test in the 1990s. The BUAV was also closely involved in the lobbying which led to the adoption in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

of the 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive, which effectively banned both the testing of

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

products and their ingredients on animals and also the sale of products in the EU which have been animal-tested anywhere in the world.

Focus

In recent years, the organisation has focused on a number of new areas, including the promotion of non-animal tested products; the

's REACH proposal to test tens of thousands of chemicals on millions of animals; and the use of non-human

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s in experimentation. It acts as the secretariat of the

European Coalition to End Animal Experiments The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) is a European umbrella organisation based in Cologne, Germany. It is actively operating in favour of animal rights and in particularly, an abolishment of testing on animals. The ECEAE was crea ...

(ECEAE), established in 1990, and its chief executive, Michelle Thew, acts as chief executive of the coalition. It helps consumers to identify and purchase products that have not been tested on animals through its Humane Cosmetics and Humane Household Products Standards (HCS and HHPS). These are audited accreditation schemes for retail companies which confirm that neither their products nor their ingredients are tested on animals. These standards are also run in a number of European countries and in the United States. A list of approved companies is available and regularly updated on their website. It also runs a primate sanctuary in Thailand for 50 rescued macaques.

Undercover investigations

Undercover investigations included the exposure of the breeding and supply of monkeys from

Nafovanny Nafovanny in Vietnam is the largest captive-breeding primate facility in the world. It supplies crab-eating Macaques (''Macaca fascicularis'') to animal testing laboratories. Background Nafovanny was set up in 1994 by Vanny Chian Technology, a ...

in Vietnam for experimentation in Europe and the US. and a contract testing laboratory in Germany operated by

Fortrea Fortrea Holdings Inc. is a contract research organization organized in Delaware and headquartered in Durham, North Carolina with operations in 90 countries. Its customers are primarily in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device ind ...

. It pursued a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

against the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

as a result of its findings in the Cambridge investigation. The High Court ruled in support of the Government in three of the four issues, and in favour of the BUAV on one issue, though this was later overturned on appeal with the Home Office awarded costs."Report of the Animal Procedures Committee for 2007"
/ref> Other investigations in 2007 highlighted the primate trade from

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Presidents

References

External links

WebsiteYouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruelty Free International 1898 establishments in the United Kingdom Anti-vivisection organizations British animal rights organizations International organisations based in London Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington Toxicology in the United Kingdom