If you’re like me, turning over packages of toothpaste, shampoo, and soap to look for PETA’s cruelty-free bunny ears logo is second nature. If I don’t see the ears on the package or the company’s name on PETA’s cruelty-free list, the product stays on the shelf.
These days, PETA’s bunny logo is popping up all over—so the biggest challenge when shopping for cruelty-free personal-care products and cosmetics might be narrowing down all the options. From hand sanitizer and hair dye to shaving cream and contact-lens solution, there are effective, cruelty-free versions of every product in your medicine cabinet.
PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies searchable database now lists more than 2,800 companies, all of which have guaranteed that neither they nor their ingredient suppliers conduct, commission, or pay for any tests on animals for ingredients, formulations, or finished products anywhere in the world, and they’ve pledged that they won’t do so in the future. The Bunny Free app, which you can download free from the App Store and Google Play, makes it even easier to check the cruelty-free status of a product, right in the aisle while you shop.
With so many cruelty-free companies and products to choose from and so many resources for compassionate shoppers, there’s no excuse for buying products that have been smeared on guinea pigs’ raw skin, applied to rabbits’ eyes, or forced down rats’ throats. So get the app, check the list, look for the bunny ears, and support kind companies that never put profits before animals’ welfare.
If you want to do even more to help animals who are being abused in product tests and other deadly experiments, consider donating to PETA’s Animals Out (of the Labs) Challenge. All gifts made by October 31 will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to PETA’s $500,000 goal.