Persuasive Essay On Cosmetics Animal Testing

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.
Animal testing is an inhuman and arrogant thing to do, if companies have to test the products on animals because of the chemicals in it, are you sure you still want to put that on your face or body. Most companies that do not test on animals use natural and real ingredients that you don’t have to think twice about. Stopping animal testing is an easy and immediate thing we can do. There is a list of over 100 ingredients that have been compiled together, and deemed to be safe. Companies just need an extra push in order to make this transition. Most people that want

animal testing to continue on are saying that because they are scared of what could happen to them. They are not thinking about the millions of animals we have lost and will loose if this continues. Animals have no say in what is done to them and there is little to no regulation done by the FDA to protect the animals. According to PETA, animal testing is bad science. The FDA reports that 92 out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in humans.
Testing on animals is extremely wasteful.

Animal experiments prolong the suffering of people waiting for effective cures by misleading experimenters and money, time, and resources that could have been used on human relevant research. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, “A research animal facility generates a significant amount of waste that must be removed and disposed of on a regular, frequent basis.” Cosmetic animal testing costs billions of dollars. With the state of our economy why would we want to continue to to waste this large amount of money on tests that are not very accurate in support of a cause that is not required to sustain

life.
The use of animals clearly does not follow animal's right to live without suffering pain or emotional distress. The Animal Welfare Act was created to set standards for the care and treatment of all animals including the ones in laboratories. This act does not make it illegal, it does let random inspections to make sure the animal care standards are being met. This act also makes painkillers mandatory for to animals that are in pain, from the test they have gone through. These painkillers hardly help the animal and are still so far from what needs to happen. Almost all makeup and cleaners are constantly tested on animals to determine if they are safe for human use. These animals are subjected to pain through tests on their skin or eyes, while others are killed when trying to find the max dose of chemical products. Animals are burned, cut, poisoned, turned into drug addicts or alcoholics, given diseases that will lead to their death, blinded, starved, and brain damaged. While they are never given affection by others.
With all of the great alternatives to animal testing in cosmetics, the decision should be easy. Episkin is one. It is an artificial skin growth from human cells, it is by far more accurate than the Draize skin test because it is made with cells that the product will actually be used on. Microdose has been done when testing drugs but can also be done with cosmetics. They test a microdose of the cosmetic on a human and monitor the effects of it. These are two of the great alternatives we could be using instead of hurting the hundred thousands of animals we do.
Many people argue that there is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole body system. Living systems like human beings and animals are extremely complex. They believe that studying cell cultures in a dish may provide some information it is nowhere near the the information provided when using animals as test subjects. Although this is a valid point that many people are concerned with we have alternative testing methods that can replace it. Including, Episkin and in vitro testing these have both had amazing trial runs and many large brands have been looking into it. Finding a new way to test cosmetics is a necessary thing that our country needs to do sooner than later.
Others think that animals are the best test subjects because of the similarities they have to humans. Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to us. Because humans and animals are susceptible to many of the same things including, illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer people believe they are the best test subjects. When in reality, animals are very different from humans and therefore make poor test subjects. The metabolic, anatomic, and cellular differences between animals is so different from humans it is very hard to take information we have learned and apply it to humans. Paul Furlong, Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging at Aston University (UK), states that "it's very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we're trying to achieve in the human." Thomas Hartung, Professor of evidence-based toxicology at Johns Hopkins University, argues for alternatives to animal testing because "we are not 70 kg rats."
Animal testing in the cosmetic industry in simply unnecessary animal abuse that kills countless innocent animals a year. It is an old and outdated concept that some refuse to understand. With alternative methods available why would we continue to spend billions of dollars on killing animals. Do yourself a favor and stop buying products that test on animals, this will send the message that we care for more than ourselves and want to make a difference.