Living Cruelty Free by Jennifer Thomson

Author:Jennifer Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greatest Guides Limited
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

WHAT TESTS ARE DONE ON ANIMALS?

The most common tests carried out on animals are:

1. Draize Skin Tests

In this test, animals such as rabbits, mice and rats have their fur shaved and then they have the cosmetic product, like shampoo or make up, rubbed into the area.

Why they do this: to see if there is any damage or irritation to the area. This is meant to predict how the product will react on human skin.

Why anti-vivisectionists oppose this:

▪It’s cruel and causes unnecessary pain and suffering to the animals used.

▪It will not predict how the product will react on humans.

▪On most products it will say ‘not to use on irritated or broken skin.’

2. Draize Eye Tests

Of all animal tests for cosmetics, these are considered the cruelest.

White albino rabbits are used because they are unable to wash away irritable substances from their eyes. Their heads are immobilized, so they cannot move, and then different chemicals are dripped into their eyes and left there to see how their eyes react. Researchers then check their eyes for any irritation or damage.

This test is used for both cosmetics and household products, like washing powder and bleach, and was devised because of the Lush Lure incident.

Why they do this: like the skin test, any damage or irritation to the area is recorded. This is meant to predict how the product will react in human eyes.

Why anti-vivisectionists oppose this:

▪There is a huge difference between rabbits’ eyes and humans. For instance, we produce a lot more tears than the rabbits used in these tests, which are chosen specifically because they produce so few tears.

▪The tests are painful for the rabbits who are given no form of pain relief.

▪Animals, unlike humans, cannot tell you how they are feeling.

▪The contraptions used to confine the rabbits and to keep them still are like some form of medieval torture device.

3. Lethal Dose Tests (LD50 Tests)

Animals are force-fed substances (usually by having a tube forced down their throats) or they are injected with them, or made to inhale them to see just how much will kill them. LF50 stands for the lethal dose it will take to kill 50 percent of the test subjects. Animals usually vomit, suffer convulsions, are paralyzed and have bleeding from the skin, nose, eyes and mouth.

Why they do this: To evaluate how toxic something is and to hopefully relate that data to humans.

Why anti-vivisectionists oppose this:

▪It’s a horrific and painful way for animals to die.

▪It does not guarantee what the lethal dose is in humans, who will react in a different way as we are genetically different. Not to mention much larger.

▪The tests don’t result in safer products. Often personal care products that carry warnings about causing skin irritation and allergic reactions are still made available for sale, which makes you wonder why they bother to put animals through grueling tests to find that out.

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