BUAV supported by Animal Testing??

This week I had my mind blown and my Cruelty Free journey seemed to get much harder.

This week I discovered that the BUAV and Cruelty Free International are actually in partnership with the Body Shop! They have been in this partnership for a number of years, and the Body Shop pay large sums of money to the BUAV.

Now, many of you out there would ask what the problem is with that as the Body Shop is a Cruelty Free brand and they are supporting the end of cosmetic testing…NO! The Body Shop is owned by L’Oreal, one of the worse companies out there for testing on animals and selling their products in China. And for anyone out there who says that that doesn’t matter because its the Body Shop that’s supporting them, not L’Oreal, the Body Shop has a questionable reputation in regards to animal testing, and always has done; for example in the past they have said that their products are not tested on animals at all, however what they mean is that their finished products are not but their ingredients are. And Anita Roddick, it has been said, had little to no issue with animal testing as for her it wasn’t important and it has also been said that she knew that the L’Oreal takeover was going to happen and even encouraged it.

Not only that, regardless of what anyone says, money from the Body Shop DOES go to L’Oreal, and whilst it might not directly find animal testing, it massively supports the company that does by supplying thousands of pounds a year in revenue .And this is but a few of the Body Shop issues (I will be doing a proper Body Shop/L’Oreal post soon in regards to parent companies vs smaller companies as well as Leaping Bunny accreditation of the small and parent companies).

So how can the BUAV, who campaign so hard against animal testing, go into a partnership with the Body Shop whose parent company test on animals?! It seems a bit twisted to me, and not a little hypocritical of them. How can you be so against animal testing but be supported and encourage people to buy from a company that allows the horror you are trying to stop?! I am not saying that the BUAV are inherently bad or that what they do for animals is wrong so please dont think that I am bad mouthing them in that way, I simply don’t understand how they can go into this partnership, and why they would want to considering what they are trying to do and the massive support they have from celebrities and the public alike. I know it must be hard to gather the money to be able to do all the things you need to do but you shouldn’t sacrifice your morals just for money – thats what all those companies who sell in China do!!

My confidence and opinion of the BUAV has definitely gone down significantly since finding this out, and now I am not sure whether to trust or support the BUAV because of this. Combine this with accreditation issues which I will be discussing in my next post, and the other problems with the BUAV, its hard to know what to do with this information, especially since I try so hard not to associate with ANY company that tests. But I still think it is so good that the BUAV campaign so hard and DO make a difference, revealing the truth of experiments, trying to stop what happens and saving animals, and I DO agree with what they do. I’m not going to stop being Cruelty Free and I fiercly believe in animal welfare but I think this makes things harder. If you can’t tell, I’m very confused…

I thought I would share this with you all, as its something that everyone might not know, I certainly didnt, and could alter how people see the BUAV. I have no idea what this means for me long term, in regards to buying Leaping Bunny approved and supporting the BUAV but I thought it was worth sharing with you all. Any comments on this are welcome!

For the animals x