The truths about animal cosmetic testing
Melanie Macleod
Mrs. Darling
ENG-3U
December 6th, 2012 It’s A Ruff Life – The Truth on Animal Cosmetic Testing
When applying that beautiful new lip color or dying your hair the perfect shade of brown, does the thought of an animal wincing and screaming in pain come to your mind? I am guessing your answer would be no as well as would be mine, until I did some research into cosmetic companies that do testing on animals. Cosmetic companies try to hide this ugly truth from their consumers to not lose credibility or buyers. There is an ongoing debate about the ethics of animal experimentation. Some people argue that all animal experimentation should end because it is wrong to treat animals merely as tools for furthering knowledge. According to this point of view, an animal should have as much right as a human being to live out a full life, free of pain and suffering. Others argue that while it is wrong to unnecessarily abuse animals, animal experimentation must continue because of the enormous scientific resource that animal models provide. This issue is unjust and ethically wrong, it should be stopped and alternative processes of testing should be considered.
There are many ways that cosmetic companies test their products, which are all on poor defenceless creatures. Dr. John H Draize, United States scientist, created the Draize eye test in 1944. Dr. P. K. Nigam, Professor and Head, Department of Dermatology and STD explains what this entails: “Chemical substances … are dripped into the eyes of six to nine immobilized conscious albino rabbits with their eyes held open with clips at the lid. The progressive damage to the rabbit’s eyes is recorded at specific intervals over an average period of 72 hours, with the test sometimes lasting 7-18 days. Reactions to the irritants can include swelling of the eyelid, inflammation of the iris, ulceration, hemorrhaging (bleeding), and blindness” (P. K. Nigam). Most of the time the animals are killed once the experiment
Mrs. Darling
ENG-3U
December 6th, 2012 It’s A Ruff Life – The Truth on Animal Cosmetic Testing
When applying that beautiful new lip color or dying your hair the perfect shade of brown, does the thought of an animal wincing and screaming in pain come to your mind? I am guessing your answer would be no as well as would be mine, until I did some research into cosmetic companies that do testing on animals. Cosmetic companies try to hide this ugly truth from their consumers to not lose credibility or buyers. There is an ongoing debate about the ethics of animal experimentation. Some people argue that all animal experimentation should end because it is wrong to treat animals merely as tools for furthering knowledge. According to this point of view, an animal should have as much right as a human being to live out a full life, free of pain and suffering. Others argue that while it is wrong to unnecessarily abuse animals, animal experimentation must continue because of the enormous scientific resource that animal models provide. This issue is unjust and ethically wrong, it should be stopped and alternative processes of testing should be considered.
There are many ways that cosmetic companies test their products, which are all on poor defenceless creatures. Dr. John H Draize, United States scientist, created the Draize eye test in 1944. Dr. P. K. Nigam, Professor and Head, Department of Dermatology and STD explains what this entails: “Chemical substances … are dripped into the eyes of six to nine immobilized conscious albino rabbits with their eyes held open with clips at the lid. The progressive damage to the rabbit’s eyes is recorded at specific intervals over an average period of 72 hours, with the test sometimes lasting 7-18 days. Reactions to the irritants can include swelling of the eyelid, inflammation of the iris, ulceration, hemorrhaging (bleeding), and blindness” (P. K. Nigam). Most of the time the animals are killed once the experiment