On World Animal Day we get to decide what kind of difference we make.
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Today is World Animal Day — a chance to pause and appreciate the animals we share our lives and planet with. It’s about celebrating their place in our world and reminding ourselves they deserve care and respect. For me, it’s also a day to reflect on the choices we make every day, from the products we buy to the way we talk to our kids about kindness.
Remembering Jane Goodall
This World Animal Day feels especially significant with the passing of Jane Goodall.
Jane was one of those rare people who shifted the world simply by watching, listening, and refusing to treat animals as “less than.” She showed us that chimpanzees are not test subjects, not curiosities, but individuals with families, personalities, and emotions.
At home, she’s part of my family story too. I’ve read a children’s book about Jane to my daughter Elloise since she was tiny. It’s been read so many times the spine is cracked, but its message hasn’t faded: be curious, be gentle, and know that kindness can change things.
The Ban That Isn’t a Ban
Here in Australia, we like to think we’ve moved past the days of testing beauty products on animals. And yes, in 2020 a law was introduced banning the use of new animal test data for cosmetic ingredients.
It sounds like progress. But here’s the catch:
The Multi-Use Loophole
The ban only applies to ingredients used exclusively in cosmetics. If a chemical is used in both cosmetics and non-cosmetic products — like household cleaners, disinfectants, or even industrial products — it can still be tested on animals for those other purposes.
And that’s where the loophole really shows. Many of the same ingredients that make your shampoo foam, your face wash lather, or your soap bubble are also used in everyday household cleaning products. If testing happens for the cleaning side, that data doesn’t magically stop there — the very same chemical can legally end up in cosmetics, too.
So while Australia can say it has “banned cosmetic animal testing,” the reality is murkier. Animal-tested ingredients are still in Australian bathrooms today — in both cleaning products and cosmetics.
Why Should Cleaning Products Be Any Different?
And here’s the bigger question: why are cleaning products treated differently at all?
Why should a shampoo ingredient be exempt from animal testing while a dishwashing liquid ingredient isn’t — when, chemically, they’re often one and the same? Our skin and homes don’t need one standard of compassion while our kitchens and laundries get another.
If we accept that testing cosmetics on animals is cruel and unnecessary, then why not hold the same line for household cleaners? There are modern testing alternatives. There are safer, kinder ways forward. Treating the two categories differently makes no sense.
Why We Go Further
This loophole is why we chose Leaping Bunny certification. It’s not just about compliance; it’s about trust.
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Every supplier and ingredient we use is independently audited.
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No historic or multi-use exceptions sneak through.
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Our cruelty-free promise actually holds up under scrutiny.
Plenty of brands lean on the word “cruelty-free,” but unless they’ve done this work, it’s often a self-declared claim. For us, it had to mean something real.
The Kind of Difference We Can Make
Jane Goodall once said:
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
That’s the spirit of World Animal Day.
It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing something. Asking questions, checking labels, choosing products that don’t come at the expense of animals. Those small, steady choices matter.
This year, I’ll be thinking of Jane, of that battered hardcover book I’ve read countless times to my daughter, and of the future I want her to inherit: one where compassion isn’t the exception, but the norm.
Because on World Animal Day — and every day — we get to decide what kind of difference we make.
Emma xx
