Why Is Animal Testing Unethical

If asked whether they have or would ever abuse an animal, most people would wholeheartedly exclaim “no!” However, many people today buy cosmetics from brands that test on animals, and are unaware of how this simple action abuses and kills innocent creatures. Cosmetic companies should be banned from testing their products on animals because it is inhumane and an unreliable method of testing cosmetics. With moisturizing face masks and luscious lip glosses on the rise, it may be tempting to buy from well-known cosmetic companies, but most of these brands hide cruel and inhumane secrets about how they test their products. For instance, the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, which regulates animal testing, allows cosmetic companies to electrocute, burn, …show more content…
Animal testing is unsafe, due to the obvious differences between humans and animals. Therefore, results from animal testing can be inaccurate, or can yield results that differ between animals and humans. For example, a drug used in cosmetics called Fen Phen has no effect on animals, but causes heart damage to humans (“Animals in Science”). Since animal testing is an ineffective way of testing chemicals or drugs, it could potentially put many people at risk (“Animal Experimentation”). Nevertheless, humans are being harmed from dangerous and unreliable tests, while animals are dying without cause since these tests are unsuccessful. To illustrate, approximately 94% of tests that are successful on animals prove unsuccessful on humans (Mcwilliams). Animal testing not only should be banned due to its cruelty, but also because of the dangers it poses to …show more content…
However, other alternatives have been developed and proven to be more effective than animal testing (“Animals in Science”). Some alternatives to animal testing include using reconstructed human tissue, artificial bone marrow and skin, and even “microbrains” that scientists have developed from human brain cells (“Animal Testing”). Cruelty-free alternatives are significantly more accurate than animal testing because they utilize replicas or duplicates of human body parts, which are more similar to a human in real life than an animal. In fact, more cosmetic brands are switching to these new methods, instead of relying on animal testing to test their products (Howard 14, 15). This includes the popular cosmetic company called Lush Cosmetics, who claims that animal testing is unnecessary when “3-dimensional human skull models can fully replace rabbits for skin irritation testing…” In addition to being cruelty-free, they use organic ingredients including fresh fruit, herbs, flowers and vegetables (“Our Values)”. It requires no thought to choose between fresh, cruelty-free ingredients, or chemicals such as formaldehyde that can cause birth defects (Duong). Despite claims that animal testing is the only way to test cosmetic products, new methods are being discovered. Consequently, there are no excuses as to why animal testing should still be legal, when