Cosmetic Testing On Animals

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Cosmetic Testing on Animals

A topic that has always been close to many people’s hearts is the one of animal testing. Some believe that it is right completely, some that it is right but only under certain circumstances, and others believe that all animal testing is wrong and will go to extraordinary lengths to stop it. Should animals be harmed to benefit mankind? This is a pressing question that has been around for at least the past two centuries. In my opinion, it is morally inhumane to torture our animals.
Every year, millions of animals suffer and die in painful tests to determine the safety of cosmetics. Substances such as eye shadow and soap are tested on rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and other animals. All of this, despite the fact that the test results don’t help prevent or treat human illness or injury. Some of the tests used on animals are eye irritancy tests, acute toxicity tests, and skin irritancy tests. For centuries, animals have been used in these types of research. (1)
A restrained dog waits in a laboratory. Within the next few minutes this dog will be force-fed or forced to inhale huge amounts of a potentially lethal chemical. This will cause the dog to vomit, suffer convulsions and internal bleeding. The dog will not be anaesthetized during this test. Scientists believe that using painkillers will interfere with the accuracy of the test results. This is not a test for curing cancer. This is not a test for curing AIDS. This dog is being tested for a brand new hair dye. Another dog will be tested in the same way for toothpaste, another for face powder. This is known as the notorious LD-50 test. The test is complete when 50% of the test animals die. The surviving 50% are killed, autopsied and analyzed to determine which organs and systems were affected and why they didn't die during the test. The Draize test for eye and skin irritancy is equally horrifying. In the Draize test...