Presently, over one million animals are burned, injured, and poisoned in US labs every year as a result of animal testing in laboratories. Each year, at least 115 million animals are used in experiments worldwide but only three percent of them survive (“Arguments against Animal Testing”). Using non-animal alternatives to animal testing will allow for better quality of life for animals and better experimental testing results; encouraging future generations to promote widespread awareness against animal testing and enforce changes.

Throughout the world, millions of mice, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs and other animals are locked inside confined cages in laboratories from weeks to months at a time. “They languish in pain, suffer from extreme frustration, ache with loneliness, and long to be free. The complete lack of environmental enrichment and the stress of their living situation cause some animals to develop neurotic types of behavior such as incessantly spinning in circles, rocking back and forth, pulling out their own fur, and even biting themselves. After enduring a life of pain, loneliness, and terror, almost all of them will be killed (“The Truth about Animals,” 2010).” Millions of animals suffer and die in US laboratories to test for consumer drug, cosmetic, food and chemical safety as well as in medical training exercises and curiosity-conducted medical experiments at numerous Universities. Additionally, animals die due to classroom dissections and experiments despite the fact that modern non-animal tests have been shown to have more educational value, save teachers time, and save schools money on numerous occasions (“The Truth about Animals,” 2010). Examples of animal tests include lethal dose tests to determine whether the dose results in death or illness, repeated force-feeding to look for signs of general health hazards and/or illnesses, force-feeding mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes and dogs to try pesticides, and dripping corrosive chemicals into rabbits’ sensitive eyes (“Cosmetics Testing FAQ”). Inflicting both “physical pain as well as psychological distress and suffering on large numbers of sentient creatures… provide little understanding of how chemicals behave in the body, and in many cases do not correctly predict real-world human reactions (“About Animal Testing,” 2019).” 

A notable factor in animal testing is the guarantee of the animals deaths by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation. Pain relief is not provided. The inhumane and unnecessary testings held on animals takes away millions of innocent lives only to provide inaccurate and unreliable results for humans. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has noted that ninety-five percent of all drugs shown to be safe and effective in animal tests fail in human trials due to lack of effectiveness or hazard. Testing is unproductive because animals do not contract many diseases humans do, such as HIV, schizophrenia and most cancers. “Such experiments belittle the complexity of human conditions which are affected by wide-ranging variables such as genetics, socio-economic factors, deeply-rooted psychological issues and different personal experiences (“Arguments against Animal Testing”).” The federal government and many health charities choose to fund animal laboratory experiments rather than clinical or epidemiological studies, which have been proven to be more effective, with donor and taxpayer contributions. “Trying to mirror human diseases or toxicity by artificially creating symptoms in mice, dogs or monkeys has major scientific limitations that cannot be overcome. Very often the symptoms and responses to potential treatments seen in other species are dissimilar to those of human patients. As a consequence, nine out of every 10 candidate medicines that appear safe and effective in animal studies fail when given to humans (“About Animal Testing,” 2019).” Drug failures and research not only risk health workers safety but also waste resources and money in clinical trials. “Even if a product harms animals, it can still be marketed to consumers. Conversely, just because a product was shown to be safe in animals does not guarantee that it will be safe to use in humans (“The Truth about Animals,” 2010).” Therefore, unreliable and ineffective animal tests mean consumer safety cannot be guaranteed which defeats the purpose of animal testing altogether. Alternate, cost-effective, non-animal tests such as human cell-based tests and sophisticated computer models deliver human-relevant results in hours or days, unlike some animal tests that can take months or years (“Cosmetics Testing FAQ”).

All animals regardless of breed or size are beneficial to our beautiful planet; and it has been repeatedly and medically proven that a large percentage of all testing provides inaccurate results and information. Improved developments of non-animal alternatives to laboratory testing can win the hearts of communities troubled by scientific testing on animals and allow a better quality of life for both industries, health workers and animals. Most notably, it will allow for a modern reputation of compassionate science for generations to come.

Alternate testing methods to ensure safety of products include:

• The use of artificial human skin instead of animals: can save thousands of rabbits each year from painful skin corrosion and irritation tests. 
• The Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability Test, and Isolated Chicken Eye Test use eyes from animals that have been slaughtered for the meat industry instead of live rabbits to detect chemicals and products that are severely irritating to the eyes. 
• Human-patient simulators and Cell based research methods
• Cadavers- corpses that medical students use to dissect and conduct experiments on
• Advanced Microchips (real human cells and tissues constructed into fully functioning organs, that can be used to test new drugs In a more accurate and moral way)
• The replacement test - using donated human tissues has the potential to save thousands of animal lives. It gives MUCH more accurate test results for humans and is proven to be safer.

PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE PETITION IF YOU SUPPORT COSMETIC/CLOTHING BRANDS TO SWITCH TO USING (NON-ANMIAL) ALTERNATIVE METHODS! 

We greatly appreciate your support. The more support we have, the greater impact we can make together!