Lush recognizes Asian players in fight to stamp out animal testing

Both prizes in the Public Awareness category went to organisations in the Asia-Pacific region, underlining the fact that the issue is slowly starting to gather more and more support as continued campaigns bring it into the public arena.

The winner of the first prize in this category went to the Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA), which has been battling to highlight this issue in a country where it is not well recognised by the public.

Taiwan and Australia leading the way in Public Awareness​

The organisation was only launched in March of this year, but has been working hard to increase public awareness and to push for a legislative ban on the practice of animal testing for cosmetics.

The campaign was launched with a bunny street team, which descended on the streets of Tapei to spread the message, while a press conference was held in June to announce that the organisation is working on a legislative bill to end the practice of animal testing in Tapei.

The second winner in the Public Awareness category was Humane Research Australia, which has been challenging the use of animals in research and promotes the use of scientifically-valid non-animal methods of research in the country.

Australian children focus of campaign​

Its most recent public campaign targeted children through a storybook, called Leo Escapes From The Lab, which depicts Leo the ex-lab cat and how he becomes an ambassador to millions of lab animals.

The campaign is said to have resonated with Australian children, causing Leo to become a ‘celebricat’, with his own Facebook page and fan base.

The organisation has also built a partnership with the Australian green party, which has culminated in a private members bill to ban the testing of cosmetics on animals, as well as a public consultation with the Labor party.

Lobbying and research prizes​

Other prizes included the Lobbying category, for which the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Germany, walked off with the top prize, while the second prize went to the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society.

Meanwhile, the Science category prize went to Professor Roland Graftström and Dr. Pekka Kohonen, of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, while the Younger Research category prize went to post-doctoral students in Brazil, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.