The truth about animal testing

Did you know that many of the products you use and love are produced involving cruelty to animals? The practices used to test these products before sale is absolutely horrifying, and you have the power to help stop it. PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) does a lot of educating and raising awareness about this monstrosity, and also gives resources for people to help.

The treatment animals in testing facilities receive is completely inhumane and wrong. The unnatural and harsh conditions in which the animals live in cause them to adopt strange neurotic behaviors such as running around in circles, pulling their own hair out, biting themselves, and more. They are bred specifically for this purpose, and many never even see the light of day before being killed.

Specifically, some examples of cruelty include force feeding dogs pesticides, forcing mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes, and dripping chemicals into rabbits eyes. It is also important to note that even if a product is harmful to the animals, it can still be sold to the public. On the reverse side, if a product is not harmful to an animal, it could still be harmful to humans. So these procedures do not even yield useful results to use with product production.

Some of the things people try to accomplish with animal testing include cruel chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics tests as well as in medical training exercises and curiosity-driven medical experiments at universities. However, PETA explains that there are many alternative methods that don’t hurt animals to test these things. Annually, more than 100 million animals suffer and die in the U.S. resulting from these “needs” of companies.

What can you do? As a consumer, you have lots of options of products that are not produced by harming animals. Check out this list of companies that don’t test on animals, but also check out this list of companies that do. Knowing the products you use and how they are made is an important first step in effecting change. You can also support certain charities that don’t test on animals, as well as educate people around you about the abuse that goes on.

An added negative to the entire situation—taxpayer money is often used to fund cruel experiments on animals. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Toxicology Program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are only some of the agencies that use animal testing to achieve whatever goal they have in mind.

Bonus: Here is a video showing 156 beagles being set free from an animal testing facility. Rejoice!