(Fruit flies)

Animals commonly used for testing are rabbits, fish, dogs, cats, rodents which include hamsters, rats,
mice and guinea pigs. If you love these furry creatures do not buy products that are tested on animals.
Check the back of a shampoo bottle, or a face wash to look for the label “NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS”.
But also be aware that some companies may include false information.

Today there are alternatives to animal testing but we still see that animals are used despite new
technologies available to take up this practice.

The three R’s are legal and adopted by researchers and others who follow this principle
try to reduce the amount of animals involved.

These are,
Reduction
Replacement
Refinement

Reduction means the same results are obtained even if fe wer animals are involved. This emphasizes less
pain and suffering as a smaller numbe r of animals are used for testing. One animal could receive several
tests where milder expe riments are concerned.

Replacement means that animals are replaced whe re possible by an alternative. For example in cosmetic
testing human volunteers are taken. This is similar to reduction methods. Replacement methods can
include cellular and computer models.

Refinement is linked directly to animal s uffering in an experiment. These methods are aimed at relieving
pain or reducing the pain entirely by injecting anesthetic or giving a pain reliever.

Why do companies use animals to test their products? First of all, there are similarities betwee n an
animal and human tissues and DNA which they believe could support accurate results, and reduce the
chances of any side effects which a user may expe rience and saves them from being caught distributing
unsafe products.

Comparatively testing on animals is cheaper to purchasing sophisticated technology.

Are there any othe r alte rnatives to animal testing? Yes there certainly are, but they are not widespread
and are to be adopted by companies.
There has been a ne w breakthrough that could replace animal testing soon but not in all applications
such as food processing.

That is the growing of human skin which could be put to testing.

This is the process:

Another is adult stem cell research because there is no risk of tissue rejection compared to animals.

Animals are tested on a variety of applications; cosmetics, military defense, biomedical research, food
production, animal breeding, toxicology testing and veterinary medicine.

(Result of cosmetic testing)

You may already be aware that cosmetics involve animal testing, and here they may be tested on the
manufactured product or the individual ingre dients. This testing is usually focused to make sure that a
particular product is safe on eyes and skin, and ove rall animals are used to
test the levels of toxicity. However there are some challenges facing this as
some of the public have suffered from the use of particular products despite
testing. Today many companies have diverted to using ne w technologies that
does not call in for animal testing. Hopefully this practice will be banned at
least in the cosmetic world and bring some relieve to the animal world.
Military defense has received less attention from the public compared to other applications and animals
are used here for developing weapons and vaccines. This application tests the effects of the weapons on
the animals just in case these were used against the general public or the military itself. Pigs, sheep and
rabbits in this case are used here. This type of application is indeed disturbing.

Biomedical research has opened ne w doors to human health and medicine. Because of animal testing we
have come a long way in treating kille r diseases, and insulin, vaccines, antibiotics , HIV and cancer
treatment have been generated through the use of animal research. Unfortunately animals cannot be
substituted for othe r models because researchers need to know how the disease builds up in the body and
how the disease can be eliminated and inquire the environme nt and the diet contributing the disease.
Animals such as rats, pigs and s heep are used and more commonly mice. Birds and fis h are also used but
less frequently.

It is surprising that animals are even used to test food production. Food is not only grown and processed
and gone through safety checks. It involves the use of animals to check that the foods we consume are safe
and hygiene both in short and long term. These tests are performe d on laboratory rodents, and some
performe d on dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs. Some of these tests can be painful, and indeed animals are
killed to check whether any substance has affected any organs and so forth. Many of us indeed eat meat,
and animals are used to create vaccines and other treatment methods to keep livestock healthy, so that it
guarantees that meat is safe to consume and that there is no risk present in eating them. At the moment
this has become a concern for welfare groups and unfortunately the re are no substitutes for this type of
testing and this means that the use of animals will become more important if other alternatives are not
available.

Toxicology testing is not kind to animals. This involves the injection of substances and othe r means in
animals regularly over a period of time to check how it affects their systems. This is cruel as the re are no
anesthetics used to relieve the pain from undergoing these experiments which indicates that animals have
to suffer a lot. If anesthetics are used this may interact with another drug and won’t help researchers find
out the specific effects of the drug.

Toxicology testing includes testing of productions such as pesticides, food products, pharmaceuticals and
chemicals. This has called in a lot of criticism from welfare groups as a brutal and needless practice .
Hopefully there will be substitutes to this practice.

The Draize test is a good example of toxicology testing. this is normally pe rformed on rabbits where a
chemical which can be from a cos metic agent applied to the skin or the eyes to indicate how toxic a
chemical can be to the human skin. This is an inaccurate test.
Arguments for Animal Testing

1. The treatment of killer diseases today is possible because of animal testing. For example: HIV
treatment
2. Testing on plants is not related with human beings and this won’t produce accurate results. Some
computer models are not advanced enough and therefore we have to turn to animal testing.
3. This practice is taken up to ens ure the safety of human beings to use a product. Any ne w
substance or chemical can be tested on animals to check the after effects of it and check whether it
is harmless.
4. Animals and humans are said to have similar tissue and DNA which makes it reliable to test on
the m.

Arguments against Animal Testing

1. This is a cruel practice, and animals suffer painful suffering and sometimes even death. We share
almost the same feelings as animals, and thus if we are humane this practice should be eliminated
gradually.
2. Even though animals are tested, results may be inaccurate and some people may suffer from the
effects of using a particular product.
3. Animals react differently according to the environme nt and conditions they are in and the tests
they undergo, so results of the tests are not precise.
4. An animal may be tested for at least more than one drug even though it is unnecessary.
5. There are more effective and gentle alternatives today that requires no animal testing. These
alternatives make use of cloned cell and skin tissues from humans, and advanced computer and
mathematical models.

Types of vertebrates used in animal testing in Europe in 2005: a total of 12.1

million animals were used. (This is an estimate)
Source: Wikipedia
 Companies that DO test on animals
Cover Girl
Dana Perfumes
Johnson and Johnson (Clean and Clear)
L'Oréal
Olay Co. /Oil of Olay
Pantene
Ponds
Unilever (Axe, Dove, Sunsilk, Vaseline)

Companies that DON’T test on animals

Aroma Bella
Body Shop
Diva Soaps
Mac
Oriflame
Revlon

(Note: Some companies like St. Ives have the label “NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS” but they are
not on the list of companies that DO NOT test on animals)
Please feel free to check out these websites and see the list of companies do and do not test on
animals.

And try not to buy products made from companies that do test on animals and you can send a
letter to them stating that products (cosmetics, cleaning supplies etc.) will not be bought unless
animal testing is stopped. This way we can minimize the excruciating sufferings that animals
undergo.

Sources: www.astrostar.com

http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/companies.php?s=A&sentence=1

www.caringconsume r.com

In my opinion animal testing is ruthless and cruel. By nature we have a complex set of emotions and are
humane not to perform tests on other humans; that is children and adults.
What about animals? It is absolutely wrong to take advantage of innocent creatures who cannot speak
out for themselves and who are powerless to fight back. Humans are innovative, and technology today has
improved vastly and indeed one can wonder what is to come in the future. But why can’t humans invent
something that would replace animal testing once and for all. It is not impossible, we just need to open
our eyes and broaden our minds. Thus we can be regarded as humane to all beings.