The Pros And Cons Of Cosmetic Animal Testing

Are you wearing makeup right now? Using some type of product like hair gel or cologne? There is a pretty high chance that it was tested on animals before it got to you. Cosmetic testing is defined as a way to test the safety and hypoallergenic properties of products for use by humans. Many big brands like Victoria’s Secret and Maybelline sell their products in China, where foreign products must have been tested on animals. Also, the FDA does not regulate cosmetic animal testing, so this means that any company could put a sticker which says cruelty-free, but that may not be the truth. Animals are also frequently used in testing medications or new procedures. This type of testing is defined as using non-human animals in experiments that seek

There is only one federal law, the Animal Welfare Act, which addresses the standards of care animals receive, but this act still excludes 95% of animals and provides minimal protection for the rest (NEAVS). According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the USDA routinely has inspections but there just are not enough inspectors to get around, and even when violations are found little is done about them. Even the FDA has said that testing pharmaceuticals meant for humans on animals is very unreliable, 92% of drugs tested on animals fail to meet the standards for human use and that number continues to grow. There have been many well-known experiments which blatantly went against ethical guidelines for experimentation. In Martin Seligman’s experiment on learned helplessness, he would continuously shock dogs that were in a harness who were supposed to try to escape. After getting shocked a few times and realizing they could not escape, the dogs would just sit and take the shocks. His experiment showed that after one continuously fails they will just give up, his experiment put dogs through unnecessary pain that could have been done with less extreme measures. According to the American Psychological Association, the other researcher on the study recently discovered that the experiment was not even studying learned helplessness properly so the whole thing was not really valid and it was unnecessary. Another problem with animal testing is that even though humans are pretty similar to some of the animals experiments on, they are never exactly the same and there are variables in labs which are controlled, but cannot be in the real world. In 1997, the FDA approved a drug called Rezulin which was meant to treat type 2 adult onset diabetes. During the tests on rats, the drug effectively lowered their blood sugar