Each year, more than 100 million animals, including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds, are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing. Before their deaths, some are forced to inhale toxic fumes, others are immobilized in restraint devices for hours, some have holes drilled into their skulls, and others have their skin burned off or their spinal cords crushed. In addition to the torment of the actual experiments, animals in laboratories are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, they are confined to barren cages, socially isolated, and psychologically traumatized. These thinking, feeling animals who are used in experiments are treated like nothing more than disposable laboratory equipment.

Animal tests have scientific limitations, as different species respond differently when exposed to the same chemicals. Consequently, results from animal tests may not be relevant to humans, as they can under-or overestimate real-world hazards to people. In addition, results from animal tests can be quite variable and difficult to interpret. Unreliable and ineffective animal tests mean consumer safety cannot be guaranteed. Also, products can be applied to synthetic tissue to determine whether they cause skin irritation, damage, sensitivity or other issues, that can be used in place of testing a product on the back of a shaved rabbit, animal rights. In contrast, non-animal alternatives can combine human cell-based tests and sophisticated computer models to deliver human-relevant results in hours or days, unlike some animal tests that can take months or years. Non-animal alternatives are also typically much more cost-effective than tests that use animals.

The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International are committed to ending animal testing forever. Through our Be Cruelty-Free campaign,  the U.S. and around the globe are creating a world where animals no longer have to suffer to produce lipstick and shampoo.  In the United States, the Humane Cosmetics Act was introduced, which, if enacted, would prohibit animal testing for cosmetics in the U.S., as well as the import of animal-tested cosmetics. Animal testing should be eliminated completely because it causes excruciating pain and suffering to species that impact our environment greatly. Animals should be treated with equal amount of love and respect that us as humans give to each other, and not used for humans to be more powerful on testing on animals. Join the fight to end animal testing altogether around the world.