Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Animal Testing

I am personally against the use of animal testing for cosmetic purposes. I found a website that clearly outlines strong arguments against the practice. I wish to echo the sentiments of this excerpt:

"Arguments against:
  • Cosmetics testing on animals is not required by govts In Defense of Animals. - "These [cosmetic] companies claim they test on animals to establish the safety of their products and ingredients for consumers. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require animal testing for cosmetics, and alternative testing methods are widely available and lead to more reliable results."
  • Cosmetic testing on animal skin is irrelevant to human skin.
  • Cosmetic testing on eyes is faulty; caustic chemicals can be determined by chemistry. Humans can easily determine that a chemical is bad for the eyes simply by studying the pure chemistry involved, rather than putting an animal through intense pain and discomfort"
-http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Animal_testing

Animal testing is not completely effective. Also most individuals would subject a family pet to this type of treatment - why should other animals experience these cruel and unusual conditions? There are plenty of alternatives to animal testing - using human cell cultures, computer models, willing and consenting humans, all of which are significantly more ethical and likely effective options.