Persuasive Essay On Animal Testing

About 20 million animals are experimented on and killed annually, three-fourths for medical purposes and the rest to test various products. An estimated eight million are used in painful experiments. Reports show that at least 10 percent of these animals do not receive painkillers. The struggle against this cruelty is a struggle as important as any of the moral and social issues that have been fought over in recent years. Although researchers have depended on animal test data to achieve medical advances, there should be other means of research because testing on animals is cruel, inhumane, and often unnecessary. The American Medical Association believes that research involving animals is absolutely essential to maintaining and improving the

The Animal Rights Movement began in the United States in the early nineteenth century and was finally recognized in 1822 when the Ill-Treatment of Cattle Act was passed. This act was sponsored by Richard Martin who formed some of the first animal-protection societies and laws (ironically he was a lifelong hunter). He also passed a bill in 1826 to prevent the cruel and improper mistreatment of dogs. As time went on more societies sprang into being. For example, the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) founded in 1866, was formed to bring attention to the issue of animal rights. The founder of the ASPCA, Henry Burgh, said their mission is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.” The ASPCA was the first humane organization to be granted legal authority to investigate and make arrests for crimes against animals using a nonviolent approach. Another animal rights group is ALF (Animal Liberation Front) which was established in Great

All of those companies have discontinued safety testing on animals. ' 'It 's been a domino effect, ' ' said Allan Mottus, publisher of the Informationist, a cosmetics and health-care industry newsletter. Mr. Mottus said concern about treatment of animals was related to a growing environmental consciousness in general among consumers. ' 'The industry trend is that if you don 't play the game and get out of animal testing, you 're going to be targeted, boycotted and left out in the cold, ' ' he said. While some cosmetics have stopped using animals for their testing, they are now having to depend on the manufacturers of the raw materials used in the industry who will still use animals to test some of their ingredients. It is the companies like Avon and Revlon to talk to their suppliers and clearly say that they are not using animals for testing anymore and they are asking the suppliers to stop the use of animals for testing also (Rich). A poll done but the Humane Society of the United States show the key points revealed; 68 percent of voters know that animals are used to test the safety of cosmetics. Three in four voters say that they would feel safer, or as safe, if non-animal methods were used to test the safety of a cosmetic instead of animal testing, women, who are the major consumers of cosmetics,