Millions of animals are being unneedlessly tested on for cosmetics, even though there are plenty of alternatives available and most of the results are unreliable or not applicable to humans. Although the fight against animal testing has made huge progress recently, America has yet to stop this cruel practice and chooses to torture animals while other countries are making a stop to the testing (“Animal Testing 101”). Right now, millions of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and other animals are locked inside cold, barren cages in laboratories across the country. They languish in pain, ache with loneliness, and long to roam free and use their minds. Instead, all they can do is sit and wait in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedure that will be performed on them.” (“Animal Testing 101”) Animal testing for products has been going on since the 1920’s, and cosmetic testing has been happening since 1938 (Murnaghan, "Animal Testing Timeline"), which means millions of animals every year since the 20’s have been cruelly and unneedlessly tested on. This unnecessary and cruel torture of animals needs to be stopped; animals should not have their corneas burned in order for people to have mascara and blush, especially when there are other, more efficient and accurate testing options available. Recently, the fight for animal rights and to stop cosmetic testing on animals, has had a huge victory. The EU (European Union) passed a law in March 2013, making it illegal to sell any cosmetics or cosmetics ingredients that have been tested on animals, which in turn, makes companies all across the globe abandon animal testing for cosmetics if they want to sell cosmetics in the European Union ("Cosmetics and Household-Product Animal ... ... middle of paper ... ...he first idea to come to mind would be to prevent their pain, if animals feel pain just as much as humans, it should initiate the same immediate response. If humans choose to let this issue slide, it ultimately brings to light what we as humans truly value, whether we value convenience over humanity and common sense. We need to act now, for the sake of the animals, and for the sake of humanity. Works Cited "Animal Research." Nuffield Council on Bioethics. N.p., May 2005. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. "Animal Testing 101." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Knight, Andrew. "The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments." New Internationalist All Posts RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 March 2014. Murnaghan, Ian. "Animal Testing Timeline." Animal Testing Timeline. N.p., 21 July 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. "Cosmetics and Household-Product Animal Testing." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Animal Testing 101." PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. 22 Mar.
In many parts of the world, animals are being used in laboratories are still suffering and dying to test cosmetics. In
Animal testing has long played a part in the science of testing, and it still plays a very important role in the medical world. Testing on animals in order to create a cure for AIDS is one thing, but testing on animals for human vanity is another. Animal testing is used to test the safety of a product. It has kept some very unsafe substances out of the cosmetic world. However, in this day in age, animal testing is not the only way to test the safety of a product. Animal testing in cosmetics has decreased over the years. However, it is still used by many companies in America. Animal testing is not only cruel, but it is also unnecessary in today’s advanced scientific world.
McKay, Michele. "The Cruelty of Lab Animal Testing." Down to Earth. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Throughout history, beginning as early as 500 BC, animals have been used to test products that will later be utilized by humans (“Animal Testing” 4), what isn’t publicly discussed is the way it will leave the animals after the process is done. Many innocent rabbits, monkeys, mice, and even popular pets such as dogs are harmed during the testing application of cosmetics, medicine, perfumes, and many other consumer products (Donaldson 2). Nevertheless, there are many people whom support the scandal because "it is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective” for human benefit (Drayson). The overall question here is should it even be an authorized form of experimentation in the United States, or anywhere else? The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives to remove animals out of the equation for good (“Alternatives” 1). They are cheaper, and less invasive than the maltreatment of the 26 million innocent animals that are subjected to the heartlessness of testing each year (“Animal Testing” 4). All in all, due to the harsh effects of animal testing, it should be treated as animal cruelty in today’s society.
Cosmetics is a very powerful promising industry. People buy different sorts of product for the sake of beauty which is a result of massive profits for this beauty global business. Hidden in this production is the unfortunate situation that animals are getting inhumanely treated. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year (dosomething.org).There are rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats and mice that are being experimented and tested for the sake of cosmetics. The physical well being of these animals should not be jeopardised for material needs. The U.S should ban animal testing in the Makeup Industry.
Without cosmetic testing, millions of animals lives will not have to be compromised and spared for the testing of cosmetic products. Animal testing is costly as one has to incorporate the spending on the animal’s food, caging, maintenance etc. That money can be used elsewhere, possibly to invest in other alternatives. Without animals to be the subject of cosmetic testing, the industries will have to turn towards alternative methods of testing which have been shown to be more effective in terms of the success in results and more cost effective as well. Finally there will be an overall increase in public morality and virtue as a result of ending cosmetic testing on animals. Happiness will be maximized for both humans and animals and humans will continue to fulfill their duty to respect the life of all beings, including animals. Society will be better off without such acts of cruelty and the lives of animals won’t be used as a means only. Allowing cosmetic testing on animals ensures the safety of products for human use, however the results are not always successful. Some also argue that animals do not share the same rights as humans do by law, therefore it is acceptable to continue testing on animals. Based on the probable consequences of acting on the presumption, it is evident that there is more good than harm brought about by acting on this presumption and confirms that it is morally wrong to continue cosmetic testing on animals due to lack of virtue and the wrong in using animals as mere means to our superficial
Why is animal cosmetic testing still happening? Cosmetic testing on animals has been dated back to the early 20th Century, before War World II. Healers and makers of medication anatomized animals with an interest in collecting understanding for their research. One physician, named Galen, declared he would rather use a pig as a test subject to “avoid seeing the unpleasant expression of an ape” (Gross 36). However, the morality of animal cosmetic testing has always been questioned. Humans don’t want to consider animals as being on the same level as us, but they are just as important as us. In the 1920’s, the usage of vaccines and drugs were performed experimentally and conducted on breathing animals, without turning their minds to think how similar animals are, just like us. Animals grieve and have emotions. Known for his disturbing procedures, Relado Colombo would dissect a fetus out of pregnant dogs and then rub burning vaccines on it in front of the mother. Despite her own suffering, the mother dog would bark uncontrollably until her pup was by her side (Monamy 9). We now speak for animals, because this proves we are the voice for protesting against animal cosmetic testing or allowing them to go through any more horrifying procedures. We must outlaw animal cosmetic testing, so animals don’t have to suffer; there aren’t enough proven results to regard it anyway.
Testing cosmetics on animals is a very controversial issue that has grown over the past years. I believe that cosmetic animal testing is wrong and should be banned because it is cruel, inaccurate, not very reliable, and has been proven to be unnecessary. Approximately 200,000 animals will suffer and die every year for cosmetics around the world. We as a whole have all decided that this is not necessary which is why we stopped making testing on animal cosmetics something that had to be done. Companies still continue to do it. Not only do you have the power to speak up for what you believe in, you can also start to vote with your dollar. Stop and look at your cosmetics to understand where you are voting.
There are several safety precautions that we as humans take to ensure our safety. Humans most commonly test things before selling or using them. This can avoid liability and make sure products are safe. Cosmetics are among the many types of products that are being tested such as fragrances, toiletries, and cosmetics that are tested on millions of animals each year. This has created several controversies between animal rights activists and cosmetic manufacturers. Especially in the European Union Council of Ministers where they want to ban animal testing as soon as they can develop enough alternatives (Milmo, 6). This is because several animals are used in experimentations to test if products are safe for us to use. Tests like the Draize Irritancy and Skin Tests, where products are put in the eyes of rabbits to test irritations, and the LD50, where several animals are exposed to a chemical are considered ways of torture. But luckily several corporations are discovering new and reliable ways to replace animals with science and technology to help reduce the amount of animals used. So because testing on animals are absolutely necessary for our safety, as consumers, we do not have the right to use animals in this type of manner, but we should reduce the amount of tests by replacing many with alternatives.
Each year, thousands of animals are brutally tortured in laboratories, in the name of cosmetic research. A movement to ban animal testing for cosmetic purposes has been gaining popularity, with many companies hopping on the bandwagon against this research. New alternatives have been developed to eliminate the necessity to test on animals. This is only a small beginning of what is necessary to end these immoral acts. Animal testing in cosmetics is useless and cruel, and can be accomplished by other methods of research to end the suffering of animals.
Simple household items such as lotions, shampoos and cosmetics aren’t very expensive and are within reach for the public, yet the public is not knowledgeable of the fact that the products that they use everyday are put through a series of tests which involve the use of harmless animals. Several large commercial companies do not make products for animals; they decide that using these harmless creatures for the testing of their products, could be cause to be harmful to animals still go forward with these types of procedures on an everyday basis. Although these animals are unable to defend themselves or signs of any form of consent for the near death procedures, these companies find this as a cheap solution for testing their products before placing them on the market. There are many other alternatives to testing animals such as embryonic stem cell research. Animal experimentation is wrong and it can be avoided but companies which are greedy for money chose not to.
It still comes as a surprise to me that with all the technology in today’s society, we are still relying on animals for cosmetic research. Some people think that it is acceptable and even justified to test on mere animals rather than risk hurting people. So, for these kinds of people, animal testing makes perfect sense. However, in my opinion, animals are living creatures and have the right to live out their lives as nature intended rather than simply surviving in cages while being poked and prodded with whatever scientists fancy. I think it is depressing and sort of grotesque that I am using products that have been tested on animals that are even commonly bred as our pets. So, I began my research to find out what companies still test on animals, why they do so, and what other alternatives they could use in place of animal testing.
Orlans, F Barbara. (1990). Animals, Science, and Ethics--Section V. Policy Issues in the Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Education. The Hastings Center Report, 20(3), S25-30. Retrieved April 28, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1658998).
Cosmetic animal testing has been a controversial topic for decades but has recently gained more attention from the media due to oppositional organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Those in favor of animal experimentation make the argument that they are taking animals’ lives to save humans’, but is it really necessary to subject animals to torturous conditions or painful experiments in the name of science? Animal experimentation needs to be abolished because it is unethical and selfish to destroy an animal 's life.