Animal Testing: We Don't Need It
On my social media platforms I generally focus on posting book related content. However, you may not know how passionate I am about more natural related topics. Topics such as animal testing.
I have always considered myself a lover of nature and get extremely angry when things such as deforestation and animal trafficking occur. Though nothing angers me the way animal testing does.
Many do not realize how common animal testing actually is. Not only is it used to test cosmetics, animal testing is also used to test the dye's in your clothing, medicines for humans, household cleaning
products, school supplies, and many many more. I can understand how some who are uninformed can understand the use for animal testing in cosmetics and clothing. But household cleaning products? Seriously? These kinds of products are not intended for human and animal contact or consumption. So why are we testing it on helpless animals?
Another aspect of animal testing is that most do not know what kinds of animals are being used for the tests. It is typically assumed that rodents such as mice and rabbits are used, which is cruel on its own. But did you also know that some companies use dogs and even cats to test their products? An example of this is Victoria's Secret however as of April 2021, they are cruelty free. It may be saddening to do so but one way to understand how truly terrible animal testing is, is to imagine it happening to your pet. You would stop it for them right? So why don't we all stop it for every animal?
One claim is that the animals used for testing have similar DNA structures and bodies to a humans. So if they are so similar to us then they must feel pain as we do. Think back to when you were a child and you were scared to death to get a shot of a vaccine, what makes you think that animals feel any different? It is truly inhumane to inflict pain on a living and breathing creature that can most certainly feel everything. My favorite example of this is the "Save Ralph" campaign. The animated rabbit "Ralph" was created to send a message about how he feels to be a rabbit used for animal testing. While this 4 minute long film could possibly be scary or graphic for some, I do still believe it is an important message.
It is also unnecessary to continue to practice animal testing since thew majority of chemicals used in products have been previously tested on animals. If we are unsure of an ingredient being safe or not, perhaps we should refrain from using it at all.
Cruelty Free Brands
Throughout reading this you may be wondering how to tell which products use animal testing and which ones do not. The easiest way to figure this out is to look on your product for a circle with an animal in the middle and "Cruelty Free" bordering it. These logos can be found at the bottom of the label or by the barcode. If you are unsure of how they look I put some examples to the right!
Another easy way to see which products are cruelty free is to download the "Cruelty-Free" app from Leaping Bunny. You can use this app to scan and search products to see which ones are tested on animals and which ones aren't. (the Leaping Bunny logo is pictured on the right.)
My Favorite Cruelty Free Brands:
The Body Shop
Lush
Tarte
Bare Minerals
Sun Bum
Maui Moisture Hair Care
Too Faced
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