I came across an article on your site from June 13, 2004, regarding animal testing for cosmetics. It was written by ducky2. At the end of the article, there was an Editor's Note stating that animal testing is essential illegal in the U.S. This is inaccurate. The Food & Drug Administration actually encourages animal testing for cosmetics. From their site:

Although the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act does not specifically mandate animal testing for cosmetic safety, FDA strongly urges cosmetic manufacturers to conduct whatever tests are appropriate to establish that their cosmetics are safe. In the United States, manufacturers bear a responsibility to ensure their products are safe for consumer use. In fact, cosmetic products that have not been adequately tested for safety must have warning statement on the front label which reads,

"WARNING--The safety of this product has not been determined."

FDA continues to work with other governments and private organizations to develop validated alternatives to animal testing in assessing cosmetic safety and considerable progress has been made in some areas. Nevertheless, until a method has been proven to be reliable and accepted by the scientific community, FDA believes that the use of animals remains necessary to ensure the safety of cosmetic ingredients and products.

The necessity of animal testing has been called into question by several groups and sources, but the jury is still out, it seems. At any rate, animal testing is, sadly, alive and well in the U.S. (the European Union just passed a law against in in 2003, I believe).

Sincerely,
Karen