The Issues Of Cosmetic Animal Testing

He senses its terrifying presence before he sees its shadow. His back automatically cowers, uncontrollably trembling in fear. After months of having various chemicals burning on his bare skin, the pressure of the gloved hand around his body rips his skin that was holding on by a thread. As the researcher looks for an undamaged spot to test yet another chemical, he pleads for a quick death, but why would they care? He is left to live a life of suffering, trauma and imprisonment, just for being born as a lab rat.

This is just one case of the 115 million animals experimented on for cosmetics, household products and pharmaceuticals each year.

As a Mansfield State High School student who is aspiring a career in the cosmetic industry, I will expose the dark unspoken horrors about animal testing before I call on you to take action on this atrocity. In this era of rapid development, cruelty against animals must not be tolerated.

Whether it is your shampoo or your contact lenses, are you aware that you are unknowingly supporting and giving revenue to brands that test on animals? Is its price tag a sign of economic inflation, or is it the undermined value of the lives of innocent animals?

At this moment, all around the world, millions of animals are imprisoned in barren cages in laboratories undergoing physical pain and psychological trauma. Most of these animals are purposely bred, and others are acquired through various sources, even animal shelters. However, 99% of the animals used in testing and research go uncounted because the Animal Welfare Act does not provide them even the minimal protections. Since companies and manufacturers have no obligation to report these tests, there is no such thing as ‘illegal’ animal tests. No matter how cruel, inhumane or unethical it is, these tests continue.

The treatment of animals used in research and testing is inhumane, unethical, cruel and must not continue. When a new product is made, whether it is a skin cream or eye drops, the manufacturer must provide scientific research of the safety and effectiveness to be able to be approved and put on store shelves. While cosmetic companies work hard to market away the atrocious reality, when we dig deeper, we can hear their cries of help.

Confined to a barren, cold metal cage, they spend their entire lives waiting in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedure that will be performed on them. These inhumane tests consist of corrosive chemicals being dripped into their eyes, injected into their bodies, forced down their throat and up their nostrils. They become addicted to drugs, they are forced to inhale toxic substances, deafened, blinded, burned and infected with disease viruses. Undercover investigations at labs and universities have provided evidence of extreme neglect and violations of the animal welfare statutes.

The effects of the constant captivity and stress from the unnatural environment are detrimental. Even with the horrifying physical affects, observations from researchers note that animals often develop neurotic behaviour such as spinning in circles, rocking back and forth, pulling out their own fur and biting themselves. After enduring a life of torture, isolation and terror, all but 5% are killed. The rare exceptions are rescued, permanently scarred for life. Researchers themselves recount the mental stress from testing on animals.

Animals are not disposable tools for us to exploit. Just like us, they have emotions. They agonize in pain, experience extreme frustration, ache with loneliness, and long to be free. This is not science for the greater good, this is torture. This a blatant act of animal cruelty.

Now I know what you’re thinking, their pain is a small sacrifice for the millions of people who are suffering. It is necessary for continual progress in medicine, cosmetics and other major industries.

But is this preconceived notion based on real statistics, or is it just a widely known excuse for the convenience of cosmetic companies and manufacturers?

According to the National Institute of Health, 95% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work. In fact, animals rarely serve as good models for the human body. Think about it, they are taking healthy animals from a genetically different species, artificially inducing conditions and forcing substances specifically designed for human use. In conjunction to keeping them in a stressful and unnatural environment, applying the results to human beings is destined for inaccuracy. For instance, in the 1950s, human population studies finally led to the discovery that smoking causing cancer, while it did not cause cancer in mice and rats.

So why do companies continue to test on animals? Because of convention. Another blatant excuse. It’s the way it’s always been done. Familiar, even if flawed. Even the regulators have this outdated view. If a manufacturer provides safety data on unfamiliar non-animal test methods, they can delay the approval of a product.

Despite misconceptions, using non-animal test methods does not imply putting humans at risk. Neither does it indicate slowing medical progress. According to Cruelty Free international, alternative methods such as reconstituted human skin, cell cultures, and computer models can not only be more humane, but have the potential to be cheaper, faster, and more relevant to humans.

With the rapid growth of the cosmetic and medical research industries, we as consumers must ensure that these industries are ethical and moral for future generations to come.

As politicians, you must use your authority to improve our industries. Not only for progress, but for the legacy passed on to our next and future generations. You must make animal testing illegal and fund research and development for non-animal alternatives so my generation can be proud to support and be apart of an ethical and moral industry.

You can’t just let these underlying problems get swept away by the attention-grabbing commercials that companies try so hard to distract us with. As media representatives, you have the responsibility to shed light on the topics that are of concern, to let the general public know of the horrors behind the scenes. You must urge companies to become cruelty free, call them out for their lame excuses and stop letting them get away with torture.

We, as teens must support cruelty free companies, boycott animal testing and raise our voices for the future we want to be apart of. Although we didn’t start the fire, we have the responsibility to shape our own industries- to be ethical, humane and moral.