Press Release: Taiwan
SPCA Receives Prize For Its Work On The Global Campaign To End Cosmetics Animal
Testing.
TAIPEI- The Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has become the first Taiwanese animal welfare organization to win The Lush Prize. Cruelty free retailer, Lush, a pioneer in the anti cosmetics animal testing field, holds an annual awards ceremony (in its third year) to encourage individuals and groups around the world doing influential work in the sector. This year’s ceremony was held in London on November 14th. Of the 33 nominees from 18 different countries in attendance, Taiwan SPCA was one of the winners in the Public Awareness category.
Every year countless numbers of rabbits, mice and other animals are forced to endure needless pain and suffering (or even death) in experiments, all done without use of pain relief. Chemicals are spread on animals’ skin, substances dropped in their eyes and forced down their throats all in the name of beauty. With the advancement of science and alternative test methods, as well as the 5000+ safe ingredients readily available for cosmetic use, the need for animals in tests is gone. Numerous regions have already implemented legislation banning animal tests for cosmetics, including the E.U, Israel, India and Sao Paulo State.
The annual Lush Prize is split into 5 categories: Lobbying, Public Awareness, Science, Training and Young Researchers. The Public Awareness Award encourages groups and individuals to increase the public’s awareness about cosmetics animal testing and the support of alternatives and cruelty free products. This year, there were 11 nominees in the Public Awareness category, and Taiwan SPCA was one of the recipients of the prestigious award, receiving a £ 25,000 prize at the ceremony in London. Prior to the ceremony, a conference took place where speakers and prizewinners from around the globe presented their findings and campaigns and discussed the alternatives to animal testing and the international movement.
The Taiwan SPCA promotes anti animal testing for cosmetics via its Be Cruelty-Free campaign, which is a global campaign active in 12 countries headed by Humane Society International. The goal of the Taiwan campaign is to increase awareness and knowledge in Taiwan about cosmetics animal testing and to push through legislation that would prevent animal experiments for cosmetics from happening. To increase public awareness, TSPCA is active on many fronts. A Bunny Street Team was formed which passed out information regarding cosmetics animal testing on the streets of Taipei, an active social media campaign was launched which engages with the public via educational platforms, a cruelty free shopping guide was put together for Taiwanese shoppers, and a press conference/ pamper party was held in May, where VIP attendees tried out cruelty free products. TSPCA also engages with politicians from across party lines as well as government agencies and international experts and has held meetings and seminars to proactively push for legislation to be implemented that will ban cosmetic animal testing in Taiwan.
Taiwan SPCA’s Executive Director Connie Chiang said, “We are honored to have been chosen as one of the recipients of The 2014 Lush Prize for Public Awareness and proud to be able to represent Taiwan at The Lush Prize Conference. The anti cosmetics animal testing concept is still a relatively new one in Taiwan, thus keeping the lines of communication open with government agencies and legislators is crucial, as is keeping up with public advocacy and education. We believe that through this two-pronged approach of positive government relations and public advocacy, Taiwan will become the next country to join the ranks of the others who have already passed laws banning animal testing. We are full of gratitude for this award and it will be put to use to further our campaign work as well as to help other animals in need of protection via our adoption, education and investigation departments.”
At present, Taiwan SPCA and lawmaker Wang Yu-Min have proposed a draft to amend the Statute for Control of Cosmetics Hygiene and are in talks with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration. The future of the campaign looks bright with plans in the works to hold training seminars, beef up the public awareness campaigns and maintain good relations with government agencies and lawmakers. With all of this on the go, Taiwan SPCA is confident Taiwan can become the next country to join the global movement banning cosmetics animal testing thus putting an end to unnecessary animal suffering and making beauty truly beautiful.
#LUSHPRIZE #FIGHTINGANIMALTESTING #BECRUELTYFREE
TAIPEI- The Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has become the first Taiwanese animal welfare organization to win The Lush Prize. Cruelty free retailer, Lush, a pioneer in the anti cosmetics animal testing field, holds an annual awards ceremony (in its third year) to encourage individuals and groups around the world doing influential work in the sector. This year’s ceremony was held in London on November 14th. Of the 33 nominees from 18 different countries in attendance, Taiwan SPCA was one of the winners in the Public Awareness category.
Every year countless numbers of rabbits, mice and other animals are forced to endure needless pain and suffering (or even death) in experiments, all done without use of pain relief. Chemicals are spread on animals’ skin, substances dropped in their eyes and forced down their throats all in the name of beauty. With the advancement of science and alternative test methods, as well as the 5000+ safe ingredients readily available for cosmetic use, the need for animals in tests is gone. Numerous regions have already implemented legislation banning animal tests for cosmetics, including the E.U, Israel, India and Sao Paulo State.
The annual Lush Prize is split into 5 categories: Lobbying, Public Awareness, Science, Training and Young Researchers. The Public Awareness Award encourages groups and individuals to increase the public’s awareness about cosmetics animal testing and the support of alternatives and cruelty free products. This year, there were 11 nominees in the Public Awareness category, and Taiwan SPCA was one of the recipients of the prestigious award, receiving a £ 25,000 prize at the ceremony in London. Prior to the ceremony, a conference took place where speakers and prizewinners from around the globe presented their findings and campaigns and discussed the alternatives to animal testing and the international movement.
The Taiwan SPCA promotes anti animal testing for cosmetics via its Be Cruelty-Free campaign, which is a global campaign active in 12 countries headed by Humane Society International. The goal of the Taiwan campaign is to increase awareness and knowledge in Taiwan about cosmetics animal testing and to push through legislation that would prevent animal experiments for cosmetics from happening. To increase public awareness, TSPCA is active on many fronts. A Bunny Street Team was formed which passed out information regarding cosmetics animal testing on the streets of Taipei, an active social media campaign was launched which engages with the public via educational platforms, a cruelty free shopping guide was put together for Taiwanese shoppers, and a press conference/ pamper party was held in May, where VIP attendees tried out cruelty free products. TSPCA also engages with politicians from across party lines as well as government agencies and international experts and has held meetings and seminars to proactively push for legislation to be implemented that will ban cosmetic animal testing in Taiwan.
Taiwan SPCA’s Executive Director Connie Chiang said, “We are honored to have been chosen as one of the recipients of The 2014 Lush Prize for Public Awareness and proud to be able to represent Taiwan at The Lush Prize Conference. The anti cosmetics animal testing concept is still a relatively new one in Taiwan, thus keeping the lines of communication open with government agencies and legislators is crucial, as is keeping up with public advocacy and education. We believe that through this two-pronged approach of positive government relations and public advocacy, Taiwan will become the next country to join the ranks of the others who have already passed laws banning animal testing. We are full of gratitude for this award and it will be put to use to further our campaign work as well as to help other animals in need of protection via our adoption, education and investigation departments.”
At present, Taiwan SPCA and lawmaker Wang Yu-Min have proposed a draft to amend the Statute for Control of Cosmetics Hygiene and are in talks with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration. The future of the campaign looks bright with plans in the works to hold training seminars, beef up the public awareness campaigns and maintain good relations with government agencies and lawmakers. With all of this on the go, Taiwan SPCA is confident Taiwan can become the next country to join the global movement banning cosmetics animal testing thus putting an end to unnecessary animal suffering and making beauty truly beautiful.
#LUSHPRIZE #FIGHTINGANIMALTESTING #BECRUELTYFREE
