The names of around 11,000 Irish citizens are among 1.4 million signatures on an official EU petition seeking to end the use of animals in the testing of cosmetics and certain other experiments.
The animal rights groups behind the petition were required to obtain one million signatures by last Thursday in order for it to be brought before the European Parliament and Commission under the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) mechanism.
It looks set to become only the seventh ECI petition to reach this stage of the process since the mechanism was introduced in 2011.
The campaign for signatures in Ireland was led by the Irish Anti-Vivisection Society (IAVS), and was supported by a number of celebrities including Thalia Heffernan, Victoria Smurfit, and Love Island winner Greg O’Shea.
The petition aims to close loopholes in EU laws which continue to permit the testing of cosmetics on animals and their use in a range of other experiments.
The IAVS has described Ireland as one of the “cruellest countries per capita” as more than 137,000 animals died in lab experiments here in 2020.
“The huge number of signatures sends a very clear signal to Irish and European governments about the strength of feeling there is on this issue,” said a spokesman for the organisation.
“We hope that this time Irish politicians, the European Commission and the European Parliament take heed and act at once to end the testing on animals of ingredients used in cosmetics.
“We also need an ambitious and urgent plan to consign all other experiments on animals to the history books, where they belong,” he added.
The “Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics/End Animal Testing” ECI was launched in August 2021 by the IAVS and a number of partner groups throughout Europe.
The campaign was also supported by beauty product companies, the Body Shop and Dove.
The signatures will now be submitted to the governments of member states for validation before proceeding to the European Parliament for a full plenary hearing, and the European Commission for a formal response.
“We are incredibly proud of this collaborative landmark and look forward to the successful validation of the signatures,” said the IAVS spokesman.
“The people of Ireland have made the task for the European Commission clear: It must come forward with substantive legislative proposals to phase out animal experiments and end the suffering of millions of animals in laboratories in Europe.
“The Government of Ireland should also take note. We demand change in testing and research. It is high time for Europe to evolve past cruel and outdated animal testing,” he added.
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