Can a Bunny Flash Mob End Cosmetics Testing on Animals?

A flash mob of dancers in bunny costumes broke out in front of United Nations headquarters in New York City on Thursday, but their aim went far beyond being cute: “We’re asking the United Nations to adopt an international convention to end animal testing for cosmetics around the world,” noted the activists, Cruelty Free International, in a Facebook post featuring a video (below) of the flash mob.

Following the flash mob and the organization’s call for a worldwide end to animal testing, Cruelty Free International’s website was down — possibly thanks to animal-rights advocate Ricky Gervais, according to a tweet, who shared his support for the campaign on Twitter:

Cruelty Free International was the first major non-profit organization to campaign against animal testing for cosmetics, starting in the 1970s, according to its website. Leading the 20-year campaign to ban cruel cosmetics in the EU, it has influenced bans in countries including New Zealand, India, and South Korea, and now hopes to make a major impact in the U.S.

But statistics on the practice of testing cosmetics on rabbits are grim, according to PETA, which claims that more than 170,000 of them are abused in U.S. laboratories every year.

“Despite the availability of more modern, humane, and effective alternatives,” the website notes, “rabbits are still tormented in the notorious Draize eye irritancy test, in which cosmetics, dishwashing liquid, drain cleaner, and other substances are dripped into the animals’ eyes, often causing redness, swelling, discharge, ulceration, hemorrhaging, cloudiness, or blindness. The rabbits are killed after the experiment is over.” Bunnies are also shaved and used for harmful skin-irritancy tests, as well, PETA notes.

As part of its campaign, Cruelty Free International, based in the U.K., is asking supporters to sign up online to help give the effort momentum. And to be sure you’re buying only cruelty-free cosmetics, look for the Leaping Bunny symbol, for which the organization is a corporate partner; a guide to the products can be found here.

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