OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Humane Society is celebrating the passage of a new law that fights animal cruelty in our state.

On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law House Bill 1097 which prohibits the sale of any cosmetics in Washington that have been tested on animals.

Washington’s director for the animal rights organization says that with an ever-increasing number of non-animal methods available, there is no excuse to continue the cruel and outdated testing. The Humane Society said that “lethal dose” tests are still performed in Washington – tests where animals are given a lethal amount of the product to see how much is too much, all without pain medication according to the society.

With the signing of the new law Washington becomes the twelfth state to ban the sale of animal tested products.

Local supporters now turn their efforts to the next step of convincing Congress to pass a national ban.