For Your Information

Some might say that as long as scientists cure the animals after they experiment on them, animal testing can then be considered acceptable. According to the organization of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), over three million animals have been tortured in the name of research. Why are so many people against the idea of animal testing? It is not because animals are having chemicals inserted into their bodies; it is because of the cruelty that goes on within the laboratories.

            George Bernard Shaw once said, “Cruelty must be whitewashed by a moral excuse, and pretense of reluctance.” What is animal testing? Animal testing, according to the FDA, is an experiment which is used to measure how much of a drug is absorbed into the blood of an animal, how it is broken down chemically, the toxicity of the drug and its breakdown products (metabolites), and how quickly the drug and its metabolites are excreted from the body. (www.fda.gov) Laboratories usually use one rodent and one non-rodent to see the effects of the chemicals when combined with the animal’s blood. Clairol, Herbal Essences, Snickers, M&Ms, Twix and shockingly many others are all companies that test on animals. It is so hard to understand how most of the products we use everyday, are products that have harmed animals in many ways. I just found out a few days ago that most of the products I use have been tested on animals. :(