Impacts of Animal Testing

Tonight, I will do the same thing I do every night: skincare. When I first used skincare and makeup, I thought it was entertaining and that the products I used would not hurt anyone. So when I uncovered the truth, I was devastated.

In the US, over 100 million animals are burned, crippled and poisoned; over 500 million animals are abused each year worldwide. I have loved animals my whole life, so by learning that humans abuse several helpless animals, I knew I had to do something: I threw out every piece of makeup and skincare that was not cruelty free.

Now, I always check if products are cruelty free before purchasing. Last year, I discovered a new brand that a friend recommended and decided to try it. A while later, I realized that I forgot to check the cruelty free label. Sure enough, when I scanned the packaging, I noticed the product used animal testing. It broke my heart to throw away a perfectly good product; however, I knew that powerless animals were abused for me to have this product.

Even the Food and Drug Administration supports cruelty-free organizations because of the benefits and effectiveness of the products. Some, however, think that hurting animals is optimal for the gain of cosmetic products. Many scientists believe animal testing is important to determine whether chemicals are safe for humans to use. Some tests, however, are conducted with no benefit to humans or the affected animals.

Though I believe it is cruel to test on animals, having no reason or benefit is even worse. If we are willing to abuse animals, there should be a very important reason.

Consider an example: even though one might prefer cake over cookies, they would likely still appreciate cookies and respect the people who favor them. Even if animals are not one’s priority, we must respect them and the people who admire them. Because animals cannot communicate, we should respect them and acknowledge that they are incapable of standing up for themselves. If we spend large amounts of time speculating about how to help people express themselves, how has it not crossed our minds that animals cannot do those things for themselves?

If we rip animals out of their natural environments, it is not right to torture them. Though we inject unhealthy chemicals into animals, I do not understand the purpose. Why would intelligent scientists hurt animals for no apparent reason? I believe it is because we are too selfish to consider the effects of animal cruelty on animals. Humans are so selfish that when curing diseases, we will use untested vaccines on animals. All we worry about is ourselves. If you use skincare, makeup or any other kind of product, make sure that it is cruelty free. Every time you use an animal-tested product, think about the animal that has been harmed for the making of the product. It takes time, but take the step towards cruelty free.