Animal Testing: The Ugly Side of Beauty
While ignorance might be bliss, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves in order to promote positive change. Questioning whether or not to jump on the cruelty-free bandwagon? After you learn the facts, you'll have no doubt that you're making the right decision.
Why test on animals?
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Legal considerations: Animal testing is not required by law in the United States. The FDA's Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act does not require companies to test their products on animals. Other countries, China specifically, do require that products be tested on animals before they can be sold in their country. According to the Humane Society, around 300,000 animals are killed in China every year during animal testing. If a company sells their products in China, they are NOT cruelty-free.
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Alternatives to animal testing: We already know of thousands of cosmetics ingredients that are effective and non-toxic. Hundreds of companies use these to make great cruelty-free products! Additionally, if testing really is needed, there are proven alternative tests that work better than animal testing, like the artificial tissue or test tube method.
Answer: With so many alternatives and no legal requierment, there is no reason for U.S. companies to test cosmetics on animals.
Most Common Tests
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Irritation tests: chemicals and cosmetics are rubbed into the skin and/or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits, hamsters and mice. The animals are left in pain and observed for a period of time measuring between a couple hours and a few days. *Rabbits are often considered prime test subjects because they have no tear ducts and cannot flush the toxins out of their eyes.
Force Feeding: Animals are force-fed sometimes through tubes for up to months and monitored for signs of illness or bith defects.
Lethal Dose Tests: Animals are exposed to or forced to ingest large amounts of a chemical or product to determine what levels cause death.
After tests are completed, the surviving animals are killed and often dissected.
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The question is not Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
-Jeremy Bentham
Is my life worth a new mascara formula?