Cruelty Free International

Founded	14 June 1898; 126 years ago
Founder	Frances Power Cobbe
Founded at	Bristol, England
Focus	Animal testing, vivisection, animal rights
Location	London;
Method	Education, research, lobbying, investigations, undercover work in laboratories, and lawsuits
Key people	Michelle Thew
Website	crueltyfreeinternational.org

Cruelty Free International is a British animal rights and advocacy group that campaigns for the abolition of all animal testing. It organises certification of cruelty-free products which are marked with the symbol of a leaping bunny.^[1]

It was founded in 1898 by Irish writer and suffragette, Frances Power Cobbe, 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.^[2] In 2015, the parent organisation merged into this new organization, taking its name and branding for all its activities.^[3]

Background

Frances Power Cobbe founded the BUAV in 1898.

The BUAV was formed in response to the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) supporting restrictive legislative proposals under Stephen Coleridge.^[4] 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.^[4]^[5]

Known at first as the British Union, or "the Union", it campaigned against the use of dogs in vivisection, and came close to achieving success with the 1919 Dogs (Protection) Bill, which almost became law. Walter Hadwen was president and chaired meetings for BUAV.^[6] Its secretary was Beatrice E. Kidd.^[7]

Tentative discussion toward amalgamation with the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), during the early 1960s under NAVS Committee Secretary, Wilfred Risdon, could not be successfully concluded. During this period the president was Albert Belden.^[8] The president from 1972 to 1979 was Betty Earp.^[9]

In recent years, it successfully lobbied the British government into abolishing the oral LD₅₀ test in the 1990s. The BUAV was also closely involved in the lobbying which led to the adoption in the European Union of the 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive, which effectively banned both the testing of cosmetics 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 European Union's REACH proposal to test tens of thousands of chemicals on millions of animals; and the use of non-human primates in experimentation. It acts as the secretariat of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE), established in 1990, and its chief executive, Michelle Thew, acts as chief executive of the coalition.^[10]

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.^[11] 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 in Vietnam for experimentation in Europe and the US.^[12] and a contract testing laboratory in Germany operated by Fortrea. It pursued a judicial review against the Home Office 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.^[13] Other investigations in 2007 highlighted the primate trade from Malaysia and Spain.

Presidents

1898–1904	Frances Power Cobbe
1910–1932	Walter Hadwen^[14]
1961–1964	Albert Belden^[8]^[15]
1972–1979	Betty Earp^[9]

References

^ Shop Cruelty Free, Cruelty Free International, archived from the original on 21 March 2012
^ Caroline Frost (15 March 2012), "Ricky Gervais Fronts Cruelty Free International Crusade To End Cosmetic Tests On Animals", Huffington Post
^ Merger of animal rights groups, Press Association, 1 June 2015
^ ^a ^b French, Richard D. (2019). Antivivisection and Medical Science in Victorian Society. Princeton University Press. pp. 162-166. ISBN 978-0691656625
^ Newton, David E. (2013). The Animal Experimentation Debate: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 38-39. ISBN 978-1610693189
^ "The Abolition of Vivisection". Gloucestershire Echo. 15 July 1911. p. 1. (subscription required)
^ Kidd, Beatrice E. (1912). "Anti-Vivisection Ethics". Hospital. 51 (1341): 642. PMID 29823033.
^ ^a ^b "Talk of the Town". Worthing Herald. 29 September 1961. p. 12. (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b "Mystery Death Probably Natural". Arun Gazette. 7 November 1980. p. 16. (subscription required)
^ The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 6, 2010.
^ "Consumer". Go Cruelty Free. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
^ "monkey business". www.buav.org Archived November 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Report of the Animal Procedures Committee for 2007"
^ "Our History". Cruelty Free International. 2024. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024.
^ "For Animals". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 13 August 1964. p. 5. (subscription required)

External links

[1] Shop Cruelty Free, Cruelty Free International, archived from the original on 21 March 2012

[2] Caroline Frost (15 March 2012), "Ricky Gervais Fronts Cruelty Free International Crusade To End Cosmetic Tests On Animals", Huffington Post

[3] Merger of animal rights groups, Press Association, 1 June 2015

[French_2019-4] French, Richard D. (2019). Antivivisection and Medical Science in Victorian Society. Princeton University Press. pp. 162-166. ISBN 978-0691656625

[5] Newton, David E. (2013). The Animal Experimentation Debate: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 38-39. ISBN 978-1610693189

[6] "The Abolition of Vivisection". Gloucestershire Echo. 15 July 1911. p. 1. (subscription required)

[7] Kidd, Beatrice E. (1912). "Anti-Vivisection Ethics". Hospital. 51 (1341): 642. PMID 29823033.

[Worthing_Herald-8] "Talk of the Town". Worthing Herald. 29 September 1961. p. 12. (subscription required)

[Arun_Gazette-9] "Mystery Death Probably Natural". Arun Gazette. 7 November 1980. p. 16. (subscription required)

[10] The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 6, 2010.

[11] "Consumer". Go Cruelty Free. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

[12] "monkey business". www.buav.org Archived November 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine

[13] "Report of the Animal Procedures Committee for 2007"

[14] "Our History". Cruelty Free International. 2024. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024.

[15] "For Animals". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 13 August 1964. p. 5. (subscription required)

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v t e Animal testing
Main articles	Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing on invertebrates Animal testing on frogs Animal testing on non-human primates Animal testing on rabbits Animal testing on rodents Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms IACUC Laboratory animal sources Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Testing cosmetics on animals Three Rs Toxicology testing
Testing on	Frogs Invertebrates Primates Rabbits Rodents Syrian hamsters
Issues	Animal rights Animal welfare Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act Biomedical Research Great ape research ban International primate trade Laboratory animal allergy Pain and suffering in laboratory animals
Controversial experiments	Britches Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates Monkey Drug Trials Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss
Companies	Charles River Laboratories Fortrea Inotiv Jackson Laboratory Nafovanny
Groups and campaigns	Anti-Vivisection Coalition Americans for Medical Progress AAAS AALAS Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society Animal Free Research UK ALF Boyd Group Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing Cruelty Free International PETA ALF Foundation for Biomedical Research National Anti-Vivisection Society New England Anti-Vivisection Society Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SHAC SPEAK Speaking of Research Stop Sequani Animal Testing Research Defence Society Understanding Animal Research
Writers and activists	Colin Blakemore Carl Cohen Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Neal D. Barnard Jerry Vlasak Simon Festing Tipu Aziz
Legislation	Animal testing regulations Animal Experimentation Convention 1986 (Council of Europe) Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (UK) Animal Welfare Act 1999 (NZ) Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (US) Directive 2010/63/EU (EU)