Kelowna businesses take stance on animal testing

In Canada, the bill will move to the Senate Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee for further study.

“This is a very exciting move towards ending cosmetic animal testing in Canada,” said Liz White, director of Animal Alliance of Canada. “In this day and age animals should not have to suffer for our cosmetic products.

“Safety of new products can be assured using existing ingredients and non-animal testing methods and the majority of Canadians support ending cosmetics cruelty.”

Tessa Gordey, owner of Kelowna’s downtown vegan spot, Naked Cafe, said shopping for cruelty-free products now can be pretty stressful.

“It’s starts to get easier the more educated you get. You start to know what products test and what products don’t,” said Gordey. “When you hear what kind of animal testing they do on that product, you instantly don’t want to buy that product.”

Gordey said some companies say they don’t test on animals, but they do, and many employees don’t know that information on what they’re selling.

“You really have to learn yourself what’s good and what isn’t,” she said.  

When it comes to makeup, Gordey recommends Joe Fresh, sold at Superstore, for an inexpensive and cruelty-free option. Forever 21 is also a go-to for her.

“They have great make-up there, it’s all super cheap and it’s all cruelty-free.”

Kat Von D, sold at Sephora, is more expensive, but doesn’t do animal testing and is vegan.

Locally, Gordey said she loves Burke Hair Lounge, a salon on Lawrence that uses only cruelty-free hair products.

“The world is moving in that direction,” said Gordey. “Now, all over, you’re seeing cruelty-free, vegan and dairy free. At the very least we’re moving in the right direction.”

Lisa Burke, owner of Burke, was new to Kelowna last January and decided to set up shop. From the beginning, they’ve been all about women empowering women and cruelty-free hair care.

“Why not? It’s 2016. We can all be better,” she said. “Why do we have to harm innocent animals? As an animal lover, I just couldn’t justify using products that are tested on animals.”

Working in California, Burke discovered a line, Twist by Oliver, that was gluten-free, cruelty-free and vegan. In Winnipeg, she started using Kevin Murphy products - the only PETA approved colour line.

“When it came down to what product line would represent me here at Burke, I just thought, why not go cruelty-free?” she continued. “Now that people are starting to care, more companies are changing their ways and getting better and you’re seeing the little bunny everywhere.”

Drea Campbell, from Oranj Fitness, started offering Burke’s products in their gym washrooms. “It’s been a huge success,” she said. “We’ve had lots of our clients coming here and buying products.”

While she admitted it wasn’t something she thought about before, when she does into stores, she now searches for the bunny.  

“Most people don’t really realize what they’re putting in their hair or on their body,” she continued. “So it’s kind of just bringing that to the table and getting everyone educated on the fact that it can be cruelty-free and awesome.

“I think a lot of people will just go and buy what they’re used to and what they like, and they don’t really know.”

While the trend is catching on locally, some companies have been cruelty-free for decades.

Spence Dagneau, manager in training at Lush in Kelowna, said not only do they never test any of their products on animals, none of the product ingredients they use are tested on animals either.

All of the products sold at the Kelowna store are handmade in Vancouver. A whopping 80% of the items are vegan and 100% are vegetarian. Dagneau said they use mostly natural ingredients and a small amount of synthetics that have a long history of being used on humans, so there is no need for animal testing.

“Being cruelty-free is at the core of our brand,” she said. “It’s one of our ethics. When our product creators go to make something, it’s one of the things they think about the most in the forefront of inventing a product.

“A lot of companies will say that you can’t innovate products without animal testing, but we’ve been here 30 years and were always coming out with brand new, really fun ingredients.”

Not only is Lush cruelty-free themselves, but they also actively fight animal testing. Every year, they give out the Lush Prize with about $500,000 for people doing scientific research to put an end to animal testing.

“The people who won last year are actually developing skin cells in a lab, so you’re not even having to use human volunteers,” Dagneau said. Now that Canada is taking steps to make the entire beauty industry in the country cruelty-free, people who are unaware of the issue won’t have to be activists to keep animals safe.

If you are looking to get involved, you can donate to the Canadian Humane Society or sign their #BeCrueltyFree petition.