Students Stand Against Animal Testing

According to dosomething.org, over one hundred million animals are abused every year in testing labs in the U.S. alone. PETA also states that 92 percent of animal testing that is proven safe on animals fails in the human portion of testing. According to the Humane Society’s website, approximately 100,000 to 200,000 animals are killed every year in testing laboratories.

“I don’t think it’s right that countless animals are being tested on for the benefit of cosmetics,” says Rachel Guidinger, a senior at Arrowhead High School.

What many Americans are unaware of is that there are no laws protecting animals against testing. In fact, no experiment on animals is illegal, no matter how cruel or unuseful it is. There is one law, called the Animal Welfare Act, that regulates the standard care of animals in testing laboratories. However, 95% of animals being tested on are excluded from this law and the remaining 5% received minimal protection.

“As a whole, humankind values our own lives over the lives of animals. Wisconsin is a state known for it’s vast wildlife and conservation of nature, but there are no laws protecting animals against cruel and unnecessary testing.” Says

Europe, which has the world’s largest cosmetic market, along with Israel and India have banned animal testing for cosmetic purposes. The European Union has 28 countries which have also banned animal testing since 2009.

According to the Humane Society, in skin irritation tests, chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin of rabbits, or dripped into their eyes. To look for signs of general illness, repeated oral force-feeding is common to see if cancer or birth defects are caused by the product. Animals are often put through “lethal dose” tests, in which animals are given copious amounts of a test chemical to determine the amount of the product that causes death. The Humane Society states, “These tests can cause blindness, swollen eyes, sore bleeding skin, internal bleeding, organ damage, birth defects, convulsions, and death.”

There are many safe alternatives to laboratory testing, which would not put so many animal lives in danger. Companies can manufacture cruelty free by using the thousands of ingredients that already have a long history of safe use. Another option is to conduct tests on human reconstructed skin, such as “Episkin” which offers more relevant testing to humans than animal testing does.