Animal testing is an issue that seems to go unnoticed. People have been using animals as test subjects for basically as long as medicines have been created. Humans have grown and expanded and simply taken over the space that animals live in. Animals already lose their homes and families from things like deforestation and construction. Then, they are practically kidnapped from their homes and forced to stay in barren cages, awaiting their fate of being injected with chemicals and substances that should not go into any living creature’s body. They are tortured for the sake of humans, and that’s just not fair. They don’t even know what’s going on. They’re normal animals until suddenly they just become meaningless test subjects. But even with possible solutions, people really aren’t doing anything about it. What did animals ever do to us?
There are many different animals that are tested on. According to science.org, mice and rats take up about 95% of the number of animals that are tested on, and roughly 100 million mice and rats are killed each year. But there are all kinds of animals that are also tested on, like hamsters, dogs and cats, cows, horses, ferrets, llamas, rabbits and so many more. And according to haaretz.com, 97% of animals that are experimented on die. Animal testing is often unsuccessful, and it’s just pointless in general.
There are so many popular organizations that test on animals. The website ethicalelephant.com lists hundreds of brands that test on animals. The brands include Pantene, Maybelline, Bobbi Brown, Head and Shoulders, a majority of L’oreal products, and so, so many more. Many companies even try to cover up their funding of animal testing by using 3rd-party animal testers in other countries. That way, they can say and print on their products that they don’t test on animals, even if they really just pay for people in a different country to test on animals for them. Companies use these dirty tricks just to try to get more people to buy their products. If enough people stop purchasing products that come from brands that test on animals, the brands will be forced to change their ways. If a whole brand would stop testing on animals, a huge goal will have been accomplished.
It seems that the only obstacle in preventing animal testing was that it’s required for some companies to actually pass a product. But there was a law passed just in December that allows products to be passed without animal testing. Now, there’s no excuse. Testing on animals is just unethical, and animals may not even provide accurate results! According to crueltyfreeinternational.org, “…Replacing animals used in testing will improve the quality as well as the humanity of our science.” There are solutions to animal testing. Computer modeling is probably one of the most useful alternatives. It is faster and cheaper, and computers and their models are growing more sophisticated as the years go on, so predictions can be made about how chemicals will react to human skin or organs. Computer models are much more humane and will help actually move human research forward.
That is why animal testing is so terrible. There really is no reason for any company to test on animals anymore, but it still happens. It should not be an issue that goes unnoticed. Animals suffer and die every day from animal testing. Only about 3% of animals may survive testing because most are killed at the end of a test anyways. Animals are locked in cages for days to be starved, shocked, burned, or poisoned.
Anyone can make a difference. People need to protest. People need to make petitions. People need to start fixing the issues they have created. People need to make a change.
Gigi Luban – Trinity High School – DMSF Class of 2027