More than 14 million cruel product tests were reported to be conducted,till recently,throughout the world every year.One million animals were formerly killed in cosmetic laboratories in the United Kingdom alone,while 30 million are slaughtered worldwide for their hide.
For Indians looking for humane alternatives,Oriflame saya it has cosmetics suitable for vegans.Godrej and Chandrika too manufacture soaps made from vegetable oils.
Cosmetic firms the world over try out their products on animals in tests that are often outdated.They are unnecessary as there are already hundreds of cosmetics that have been produced from pre-tested substances.There are also innumerable products that do not contain animal ingredients and have not been tried out on them.Bt the tests are undertaken in a callous,mechanical way. How would we like if our eyelids are clamped apart and shampoo concentrate poured into our eyes day after day?But that is precisely what rabbits are subjected to in the Draize Irritancy test.
Imagine having talcum powder,lipstick and toothpaste forced down your throat till your intestines rupture.That is what we inflict on dogs and monkeys in the Lethal Dose 50 test.
To have a patch of one's skin ripped off layer after layer,and stinging solution applied to it must be sheer torture.But guinea pigs cannot escape or protest,can they?Especially if they are held captive in a cage.
What makes it so wanton is that very often,these tests do not determine man's reaction to the product as human beings react differently to many substances when compared to animals.
Mercifully for animals,awareness is spreading.In the West,quite a few cosmetic companies have sprung up over the past few years that manufacture cruelty-free items.Chief among them is Body Shop founded by Anita Roddick in England in the Seventies."This product has not been tested on animals"is not just a label.It is a heart-warming statement of man's growing compassion towards his fellow creatives.
A few firms now eliminate tests on animals and also make sure the suppliers of the raw materials have also not conducted them.Members of the board of directors volunteer for the tests to ensure the product is safe and reliable.Companies carry out research to produce shampoos,soaps and shaving creams that are made from animal-free ingredients.Germany has a law banning animal tests for decorative purposes.A government subsided programme also exists to validate and use non-animal substitutes for the Draize test.

The wearing of animal skins and furs was a necessity dictated to primitive man by his environment,to protect himself from biting cold and lashing winds.Major advances in technology have provided synthetic fur and leather that rival the natural ones.But 'synthetic' has come to denote the inferior and the infradig.
Baby seals that look with trusting,curious eyes are clubbed to death while the mother hovers miserably nearby.Animals are left to suffer and starve for as much as ten days at a stretch before a trapper returns to claim their skin or fur.Despite the ban on the hunting of big cats,they are clandestinely and cruelly killed to obtain an unmarked skin.Vicious implements are thrust into their bodies to cause slow and painful deaths.Cows,calves,oxen and goats are slaughtered for their hide.
Apart from cosmetics and garments,accesories and handicrafts by the billion are produced from the parts of butchered animals.Trinkets that trivialise the craftsmen and the buyer-tortoise shell combs to adorn the hair,kumkum boxes made out of shell,bangles and bracelets out of bone and pearls from oyster's shells ripped apart.

The damage to the ecology is immeasurable.Among the voluntary organisations that spread the message of compassion and raise the level of awareness is "Beauty Without Cruelty"(BWC).Founded by Lady Dowding in 1959 in England,it has branches all over the world.The organisation aims at informing the public about the massive suffering,fashion and cosmetic industries impose on animals.
Among the achievements of the Indian BWC are persuading the government to put an end to the ivory trade,the banning of calf rennet to curdle cheese,preventing animal sacrifice and getting the government to scrap the Karakul Lamb Project.The lambs,prized for their thick,curled pelt from which caps were made,were beaten to death 48 hours aftre birth because the curls would unloosen after that.The BWC bought the remaining lambs from the government and cared for them in a farm in UP.Polyester brocade to replace silk was another positive stroke of the BWC.

Although protected by the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972,there is also a great demand for snakeskin wallets and crocodile leather bags in Hong Kong,Jakarta and Singapore that reptiles continue to be killed in the most gruesome manner.The snake is nailed to the tree,stripped off its skin,and thrown aside.It may die a few days later.The Irulas,tribals who earned their livelihood by killing snakes and selling them,have now been weaned away from this but the smuggling continues.

Where have all the dinosaurs gone,we wonder.One day we may ask,"where have all the animals gone?".Unlike the case of the dinosaur,man will know the answer as he stands forlorn in a denuded world,adorned with their fur and feather,their bone and leather.