BOSTON (WWLP) – Tens of thousands of animals are used for product testing yearly and now there’s a movement at the State House to end those practices.

Wednesday was cruelty free day at the State House and advocates pushed for two bills that would put a stop to unnecessary testing on animals. The event in the great hall was filled with animal lovers and businesses that feature cruelty free products.

Before the legislature are two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, that would shift companies away from animal testing. According to the advocates, in common toxicity testing, harsh chemicals are applied to an animals skin, eyes, and forced down their throats or lungs.

This legislation that was refiled this year would require manufacturers and their testing facilities to use testing measures that would replace animal testing when available, and it would also provide information on equal or better testing strategies. The legislation only applies to products like cosmetics, household cleaners, and industrial chemicals.

“Especially with cosmetics, they may think about literally putting makeup on an animal, but that’s not what happens, they are actually taking these products, they are putting them into the animals eyes, they are sometimes cutting them to see what would happen if it exposes to raw skin, so these aren’t just animals being put in makeup, these are animals that are being subjected to some really invasive procedures,” said Allison Blanck, Director of Advocacy at the Animal Rescue League Boston.

The event also celebrated the passage of the Beagle Bill. That, now law, requires research institutions to partner with adoption agencies, to adopt out animals once the institution no longer needs them for testing.

This legislation does not apply to medical research, like testing of drugs or medical devices.