Animal Lives Matter Too: Reasons To Stop Animal Cruelty

Animals, in my opinion, are the most innocent creatures on this planet. They will never harm any human beings without being provoked, but sadly we show no mercy when it comes to animals. We will abuse them in any way possible if it benefits us. We should treat them as humanely as possible, and show them the care and attention they deserve. Although people have been fighting against animal cruelty for a long time, and there are kinds of testing that could be humane, the unregulated abuse of animals in laboratories needs to end.

The discussion of animal cruelty could be traced back all the way to ancient times when dogfighting was a sport back in the 12th century. The started to exploit dogs by making them fight against larger animals in a pit. For centuries this would happen all over Europe until it was banned in 1835. This ban really encouraged people to put an end to this cruelty, so the nation’s first animal welfare organization opened up in 1866 by a wealthy man named Henry Bergh.(Animal Cruelty) In the years that followed many organization like this sprang up across the United States. These Organizations would never exist without the dedication and care of the individuals of the group. They truly believe that every life deserves respect and a life free from suffering and pain.

Fast forward two centuries and now animal cruelty is a crime in every state. However, animals are still being experimented on in labs in the name of science. The reality is that these animals are always beaten, and locked up in cages for some useless experiments that curious scientists want to conduct. If you really think about it these animals are stripped of their rights and freedom, for example, an article called Cruelty to Animals in Laboratories it said, “You can’t choose when and what you eat, how you will spend your time, whether or not you will have a partner and children, or who that partner will be.” This really sums up the life of rats, mice, rabbits, and other animals that are experimented on. All these experiments really instill a sense of fear into the animals. Many of these animals feel a sense of unease when a person walks by their cage thinking that they are next to be experimented on. These animals already know that it is a painful process from the previous experiences they have had, like seeing other rats being experimented on.

One extreme example of an experiment on a rat happened in Japan. An article by Ali Venosa, who is a journalist for neuroscience, stated that Japanese scientists have used stem cells to create an adult size ear on a rat’s back. They even attempted to remove the 5-inch ear, which ended up killing the rat and putting it through an immense amount of pain. Lois Sepahban wrote a book on animal testing, and in that book, there were a lot of really shocking statistics about animal testing. Like in a 2012 USDA program report showed that 1.1 million animals at the Animal Welfare Act were used in labs, scientists estimated, based on that report, from 13 million to 25 million mice and rats each year are used in the United States for research, he added that they were “experimented on and eventually killed.”

I strongly believe that animal testing should be eliminated because it violates animal’s rights, it causes pain and suffering to the animals, and other means of testing product toxicity is available. Humans cannot justify what they are doing by randomly torturing and executing thousands of animals per year to perform lab tests. At the end of the day, all animals should be treated with respect and dignity because we have already put them through enough suffering by stealing much of their wildlife. The last thing we need to do is add more fuel to the fire. Hopefully, in the future, more people will become aware of animal cruelty, and try to put a stop to it.

Animals are still being experimented on in labs for cosmetic testing. These cosmetic tests are a very cruel practice in which rats, mice, and rabbits are subject to allergy tests. The chemicals used in the tests cause irritation, burning, and corrosion to their eyes and skin. Imagine spending your whole life confined to a hospital bed where you are given no blankets or mattresses, and your constantly receiving treatment that causes you discomfort. This a close analogy to what animals feel like when they are being tested on. The whole purpose of these experiments is to demonstrate that cosmetics are effective and safe to use. The problem with these tests is that the results are unreliable, as humans react to chemicals very differently than the animals they are tested on.

There are different alternatives in testing cosmetics, for example, using approved tests that do not include animals and using ingredients that have been established as being safe to use. One alternative that is available is a cornea like 3D tissue structure produced from human cells. (PETA) Companies can drop chemicals onto it, and expect to see reliable and accurate results. Sadly, despite all the alternatives that are available, countless animals are subject to cruel tests around the world. As hard as it is to believe, many companies will embrace non-animal tests only if they are legally obligated to do so.

In recent years, animals have seen a great increase in the number of bans, and in 2013 we saw the first complete ban on cosmetic testing on animals. (One Green Planet) More recently the U.S passed The Humane Cosmetics Act which was passed in 2017. This act ensured that animals are not harmed in the process of creating cosmetics. This shows that the efforts that everybody put into this fight against animal cruelty really paid off. The progress that was made is just tremendous and amazing it still gives me hope that our society can achieve amazing things. Animals being tested on isn’t always bad, some of the tests provide us the effects of toothpaste and other useful stuff, but some experiments that are tested on animals have no reason into being done.

We should all realize that animal cruelty happens to all different types of animals and in every part of the world. Rick Missimer wrote an article on Health Guidance; the article was about the reasons people abuse animals. Missimer said that most people abuse animals because they were experiencing abuse themselves whether it from their past or present and these people take out all their stress on animals. Missimer concluded with a powerful statement, “Animals are God’s creation. They should be treated equally [like] the way people treat their family and friends.” It also is preventable in many different ways. This is why we should all try to stop the use of animals in labs by refusing to buy products from companies that abuse animals in their testing. You could also join an animal rights organization, and help combat animal abuse by donating your money or time. These organizations raise awareness around issues like animal cruelty and help save many animals. One of the most important things you can do is to spread awareness to your friends and family.