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Jennifer Cano
Professor Batty
English 113B
10 May 2016
Torturing Animals for Luxury: Animal Testing for Cosmetics
Animal testing for cosmetics is something that has been a controversy for so long. It
borders the line of what is right and ethical. Many believe it is a good thing to test on animals so
we understand the power of the chemical, while others believe a soul is being tortured for no
reason. Animals are tested for how they react to cosmetic products. They test the skin irritation,
the amount of time it takes to burn or irritate the skin and much more on animals. These animals
are being put through torture in order to create the next best lipstick bullet. Animal testing for
cosmetics is something that needs to be banned, although I do understand that it may be useful in
some way to test allergies and sensitivity, it is still unethical and wrong to test on animals.
Animals are suffering for our luxury. Why do we need to use these small defenseless
critters to test cosmetics? Cosmetic products arent things that we need, instead they are what we
want. Animal testing is cruel and needs to be banned in the United States. Some countries have
actually banned the use of any testing on animals for cosmetics. A country that is a great example
would be China. China has teamed up with a cruelty free program in order to stop animal testing
in cosmetics. They recently just passed a law that indicated any cosmetic product that was tested
on animals will be illegal. (China Implements Rule Change in First Step Towards Ending Animal
Testing of Cosmetics : Humane Society International.) It is a big deal to end the testing on
animals for cosmetics. An organization named PETA is a biased group of people who are
completely against any harm towards animals. Having said this, they make a great point saying

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In a huge victory for animals, the European Union (EU), Israel, and India have banned the sale
of any cosmetics or cosmetics ingredients that have been tested on animals (Testing Cosmetics
and Household Products on Animals). This is a huge deal for animal rights and the way it effects
the rest of the world. It can become a chain reaction. If the rest of the countries, see that all these
other countries are able to cut out animal testing for cosmetics they will be even more pressured
to end it themselves. Although these countries have stopped the testing on animals for cosmetics
this does not mean that the whole world has. To make it an even bigger deal, the United States
still allows the use of animal testing for cosmetics. Although, there is indeed an act that limits
what type of animals you can test on and so forth in the united states.
The act is named Animal Welfare Act (Animal Welfare Act), and it is the first federal law
in the united states having to do with animal testing. This act does many things in protecting
animals and the way they must be treated. The act goes way beyond just research. The act applies
to breeders and many other situations regarding animals. Although this act is a good place to
start, the act has many flaws. For example, AWC does not protect every animal. It covers warmblooded species, with the exception of birds, rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus
-bred for use in research (Animal Welfare Act). This means that researchers can test on any
cold-blooded animal and a few warm-blooded ones. What is the difference between any animal?
We wouldnt go out and say testing is fine to do on those of colored skin humans, but not those
of white skin. If we wouldnt treat humans like this there is no reason why we should treat any
living thing like this. Another source states the same conflict by saying, 95% of animals used in
experiments are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act (Animal Welfare Act), which
excludes birds, rats and mice bred for research, and cold-blooded animals such as reptiles and

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most fish (pro con). This shows that the AWC doesnt protect these other wide range of animals.
Which means these are the creatures who are suffering and taking all the blows.
There are many companies that till this day still choose to do animal testing. A lot of
these companies are well-known brands. We even have most of these products in our homes.
Some brands that still do animal testing are: Maybelline, Almay, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Dove,
Secret, MAC, Clean and Clear, Covergirl and many more. All these brands are well known and
someone who has no knowledge of these companies testing on animals can buy several products
and keep supporting the brand. These companies make it really hard to notice what they actually
do. These brands dont advertise that they are testing on animals because if many people found
out they would lose a lot of money.
Now, of course many may think that testing all these products on animals before it hits
our own skin is a good thing, but do they really know why they are tested on and the other
recourses companies have? Guinea pigs and rats are tested for allergic reactions on skin. Rabbits
are tested for skin irritation, eye irritation and much more. (Animal Testing - ProCon.org.) There
is a whole list of animals and tests that go on then just the ones I listed. Although this all seems
sensible to do in order to protect our own health, all these tests can be done without the use of
animals. We are a very fast evolving nation with high technology. There is a vast majority of
other ways we can test things out using machines and not living creatures. As part of Tox21, the
EPA has also completed the first phase of its ToxCast program, which involved rigorously testing
around 300 chemicals (mostly pesticides) in close to 500 assays in multiple human and animal
cell lines to determine which chemicals activate different metabolic pathways (). Comparing
the results with in vivo data, the researchers found that the more cellular pathways perturbed by a
chemical as observed in a lab dish, the lower the dose at which the chemical causes toxicity in

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animals (Dolgin). This quote explains that there is a new type of technology that can tell you
how the product will react to humans and animals. The technology even gives you the research
faster and with use of less product. With this there is no reason why we should test on animals.
Animal testing for cosmetics needs to come to an end. We are a very technological
country and it is time we use technology over lives. We need to all come together and have our
voices heard in order to make a change. We wouldnt experiment on humans so we shouldnt
experiment on animals. If we keep repressing animals what does that about how the world
works. In order to be in peace and in one with nature we need to stop discriminating on animals
and be a nation that moves in the positive direction. Animal testing needs to be put to an end.

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Work cited page

"Animal Testing - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
"Animal Welfare Act." Animal Welfare Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Cosmetics: Humane Society International." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
Dolgin, Elie. "Animal Testing Alternatives Come Alive in US." Nature Medicine, 16.12 (2010):
1348.
"Testing Cosmetics and Household Products on Animals." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
"China Implements Rule Change in First Step Towards Ending Animal Testing of