The BUAV has revealed for the first time graphic and disturbing evidence of the suffering inflicted on hundreds of thousands of mice for botox testing and is calling on manufacturers to put an end to this appalling cruelty. Botox is used by huge numbers of people for cosmetic or vanity purposes – temporarily smoothing away wrinkles to enable people to look younger. Indeed, in some countries, botox is specifically licensed for ‘aesthetic’ purposes.
The revelations of the suffering involved with just about every batch of botox that hits the high street will shock members of the public and celebrities alike who believe that cosmetic testing on animals is no longer permitted in the EU. Yet mice are suffering horribly and dying for a product that is extensively used for cosmetic purposes. Botox manufacturers should not seek to hide behind technicalities that botox products fall outside the EU cosmetics directive (because they are injected), or that they are licensed as medicines – the reality remains that botox is used on a massive scale for cosmetic purposes
The BUAV’s investigation at Wickham Laboratories (WL) in the UK uncovered the appalling suffering inflicted on thousands of animals inside the facility. The laboratory carries out poisoning tests on hundreds of mice each week for a product called Dysport ® (manufactured by Ipsen), which contains botulinum toxin. Botulinum toxin is licensed in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for some relatively rare medical conditions, but is increasingly being used “off-label” in cosmetic clinics for purely cosmetic purposes where it is commonly referred to as ‘botox.’ Although in the UK the Home Office says it only allows botox animal tests for medical purposes, it admits it has no control over end-use (1).
The animal suffering is the same whatever the end-use. The test used is the archaic poisoning test LD50 (lethal dose 50 - this is the dose at which 50% of the mice would be expected to die when injected with the toxin), one of the cruellest and most controversial tests carried out on animals.
The test involves injecting mice in the abdomen with the botulinum toxin. Within hours, signs of poisoning start to show - many mice have difficulties walking. Many also suffer increasing paralysis and difficulty breathing and then eventually suffocate to death. The level of suffering is appalling. No pain relief is given to the mice.
To add insult to injury, over a decade ago, a Government laboratory, the National Institute for Biological and Control Standards (NIBSC), developed a method that does not use live animals (the SNAP-25) for the very type of botox that Wickham tests (Dysport®), and yet the Home Office continues to allow the LD50 to be used for Dysport®.
BUAV’s Director of Special Projects, Sarah Kite states: “It is totally unacceptable that animals should continue to pay for our vanity by suffering and dying in these horrendous tests, wherever they take place. Members of the public will be outraged to learn that, cruel animal tests continue to be used for botox, and we ask them to join us in our call on botox manufacturers to end these cruel tests once and for all.”
