Animal Testing in the Cosmetic Industry
Uploaded by JamiD on Nov 27, 2005
Dr. Frank Meehan picked up Charlie, the frail brown monkey and placed him into what would soon be his coffin. Charlie was screaming hysterically almost knowing that his time had come in the small research laboratory for a common cleaner product. Charlie had seen many of the other animals die the same agonizing death that he envisioned himself to be receiving soon. What would it be this time? Pumping the cleaner into his stomach or pouring it directly on his skin to study the burning of tissue? Perhaps it will be dripped into his eyes to test the blinding effects. All Charlie knew was that he was going to be dying a slow and painful death just like all the other animals in the lab.
This is just one example of what most animals in a research laboratory undergo every day. Most don’t survive as they are pricked, prodded and pumped with chemicals that no human would want to inhale much less swallow. The use of animal testing in the cosmetics industry has been widely accepted in today’s society. With new ideas overflowing, there is little to do but expect the wide variety of products that have been handed to us. Besides, there are regulations put on companies testing options, right? What if those regulations are rarely checked? In fact, most are so vague they are not even restricting such tests that blind, paralyze and torture defenseless animals solely for the breakthrough in human hygiene and attraction. The use of animal testing for cosmetic purposes is unjustifiable and outdated. Companies that continue to blind and poison animals do so simply because they don’t have the vision to try a new and better way. There are many alternatives to animal studies that are not being considered. Such alternatives have shown to be more accurate thus should be strictly enforced by law.
Most of us are ignorant of what is actually happening behind the close doors of a company laboratory. A kitten convulsing after being doused with a chemical, or a rabbit whose skin had been eaten away by an acidic substance is not an uncommon thing found. With these procedures, anesthetics are never used as most scientists say it interferes with the results. These animals are being mutilated and tortured so humans can get the best hair dye, perfume, and toothpaste on the market. In one experiment, a pet’s eyelids were...