I like the new shade of eye shadow you’re wearing. Where did you get it? Do you know how the company made sure it was safe for human skin? Chances are, the makeup you are wearing was tested on animals by scientists. It may not sting your eyes now, but scientists have
forced the product onto the eyes of harmless rabbits, causing damage and pain to their eyes or even blinding them if the formula was not safe for skin. Oh, and that body spray you used this morning to freshen up? Don’t worry; its fumes were inhaled by lab mice and rats last year. A few hundred of them perished, but it was well worth it to make you smell like artificial daisies. Right? Wrong. The experimentation of cosmetics, cleaning supplies, and medicine on animals that may result in harm is downright immoral, and must be stopped.

To begin, according to records, over 100 million defenseless animals, consisting of frogs, mice, rats, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, fish, monkeys, and birds are killed in America for experimentation, high school biology lessons, and chemical, drug, and cosmetics testing. These creatures who are cruelly tested on against their wills may have their skin burned off, their bones crushed, and holes drilled into their heads, just to see how humans would react to certain stimuli (C). The lab conditions are not any better;
animals are isolated from
socializing, confined to cramped cages, and traumatized mentally. To add, scientists always try to reassure the public by telling us that they record every animal
used and that they only use what they need. However, this is not the case. Most of the animals used for testing aren't even recorded for, so we will never even know how many animals are slaughtered for these uses each year. These practices are not only morally wrong, but they curb the animals’ natural needs and instinct. Life in cramped cages and isolation from other animals is not natural for them; it is oppressive and against how they are supposed to live. Monkeys sometimes spend days in restraint tubes that keep them from moving around at all.
No, they are not just creatures that are on earth to be used as tools. Non-human animals are
capable of the same emotions and capacity we humans are; the only thing they really lack in this
situation is a way to communicate and give consent to the scientists that test on them. If mice, monkeys, bunnies, and other animals could talk, they wouldn’t be asking for this inhumane treatment; They would be begging the opposite.

On the other hand, many scientists that support animal testing believe that their results
will always be very precise. Experimentation on animals does not always produce accurate results for humans. In fact, since mice only share 80% of the same DNA as humans, they do not produce the most reliable experimental outcomes. For example, in the late 1950s, an epidemic swept the United States that originated from a vaccine that was previously tested on rats and cleared for human use. Also, many scientists blame the outbreak of the AIDS virus on labs creating their own samples of the virus on animals. Animal testing is not only unethical; it is not as trustworthy as others may gloat.

In addition, Scientists have already come up with and use safer, more accurate alternatives to animal experimentation in recent years. Computer models of human skin and tissue cultures can give them very accurate results as to how humans will react to a
substance, rather putting animals in brutal pain if a formula is too reactive. Reassuringly, since these models and cultures represent humans and how they will react to substances only we will use, the results will be much more accurate to our species than they are to mice or bunnies.

No, no one is asking you to give up wearing makeup, washing the dishes, or shampooing your hair. However, there are many alternatives to using products tested on helpless animals.

Many, many cosmetic, toiletry, and cleansing items have been tested using models and cultures, and are labeled as “not tested on animals”. You can help end the suffering by buying only or mostly products that do not conduct or endorse animal experimentation, and as we proceed into the future, more and more companies will come to their senses and switch to more humane methods of testing their products, especially if they are going out of business for it. So, tell me now; was it really worth that new shade of pink?