Animals have long been used for research and testing purposes dating back to as early as the nineteenth century() . Animals are often the subjects of experiments in the field of science in order to gain further knowledge about human disease as well as testing the safety of potential human treatments. Animals such as mice and rats are amongst the most commonly used subjects due to their physiological and genetic similarities with humans, which is why using animals for these scientific purposes can be tremendously helpful for furthering advancement in the medical field. However, cosmetic testing, a subcategory of animal experimentation continues to be……. While it is estimated that more than 25 million vertebrate animals are used annually …show more content…
Although Kant believed animals were not autonomous beings, he didn’t believe we should dispose or treat them any way we wanted. Our duty is not to the animal, but in regards to the way in which we treat them for it can ultimately affect our perception of duties to other humans.Kant is surely right that there are indirect duties concerning animals, duties mandating that animal welfare be taken into account in our moral thinking, that are not duties to animals themselves. We have moral obligations not to mistreat animals because mistreating them would then be going against our duties as members of a just society. According to Kant, cruelty to animals is justified in cases where the benefits to humans outweigh the harm to humans. He believed that the scientific value of animal experimentation outweighs the negative effects on the scientists in their dealings with others. However cosmetic testing on animals is not done to improve global health, but for the self interest of people to improve their physical appearance. Therefore according to Kantian ethics, the lack of scientific value of cosmetic testing on animals would not outweigh the negative effects inflicted upon the animals therefore the act is not ethical.Going against this duty to treat others such as animals with respect, would therefore be unethical. The morality of the actions of cosmetic testing therefore, must be assessed in terms of the motivation behind it. Based on the Kantian theory, cosmetic testing on animals is morally wrong due to their use as mere means for the self interest of humans that goes against our duty to treat all living creatures with
The use of animals to test cosmetics is introduced in their article as well. The authors quote a vast amount of credible sources from prestigious universities such as Princeton and from well known animal rights group such as PETA. I will use this as my main source of information.
“If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal that hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts.” (DeGeneres, DG). Think about those animals imprisoned in cold cages, having nothing to do but wait, waiting in fear, knowing that when the time comes their cages will be opened, but not to set them free. Unable to react, unable to defend themselves, they rot in pain and mourn with isolation. And yet all we, humans, do is sit back and watch them suffer. Animal testing is the abuse of animals to develop new products. Although some people are against animal testing others agree that animals are needed in researches to find upgraded and new cures for developing diseases, to find advanced aesthetic products, and to find refine household products leading to a more satisfying quality.
Animals are tested on for many cosmetic and medical products, but the treatment of the animals and the quality of the test results are often less satisfactory than the consumer realizes. Every person has most likely purchased either a pharmaceutical or cosmetic product in his or her lives, but the careless techniques for making these products may astound individuals that rely on drugs for everyday use. According to the Food and Drug Administration, “every year about fifteen -hundred” drugs are created, but “twelve-hundred” are deemed unusable for people. Regardless of such a high number or drug rejections, about “one-million Americans are hospitalized from flaws in drugs” (“Animal Experimentation,” 2009). Most of these drugs were tested on animals before being approved for human use, which proves that animal testing is not a successful method of experimentation. Some factors should be considered when deciding what testing method is most helpful to society; whether an animal has similar genetics to humans, if testing animals are treated humanely, and the costs of conducting the tests. Scientists and animal support groups have quarreled for centuries over the morals of using testing animals and human safety when using animals for toxic experimentations. Individuals for animal testing usually claim that there are no alternatives or it is the safest out of all the methods, but he or she may not be aware of modern technologies that are capable of making a new and improved data for certain pharmaceutical products.
Animal testing has long played a part in the science of testing, and it still plays a very important role in the medical world. Testing on animals in order to create a cure for AIDS is one thing, but testing on animals for human vanity is another. Animal testing is used to test the safety of a product. It has kept some very unsafe substances out of the cosmetic world. However, in this day in age, animal testing is not the only way to test the safety of a product. Animal testing in cosmetics has decreased over the years. However, it is still used by many companies in America. Animal testing is not only cruel, but it is also unnecessary in today’s advanced scientific world.
Sadly according to the Humane Society International (HSI) article About Animal Testing “in the United states alone around 26 million animals are tested each year for medical and commercial research” (HSI) even though animal testing is not required to ensure that the cosmetic being sold are safe. From those 26 million animals being tested most are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act. The animal welfare act does not include birds, rats and mice bred for research, and it doesn’t include cold-blooded animals. Animals testing should be banned because the animals tested suffer immensely, also animal tested is unethical, and because there are many alternatives.
Millions of animals are being unneedlessly tested on for cosmetics, even though there are plenty of alternatives available and most of the results are unreliable or not applicable to humans. Although the fight against animal testing has made huge progress recently, America has yet to stop this cruel practice and chooses to torture animals while other countries are making a stop to the testing (“Animal Testing 101”).
The ethics behind using animals for experiments and tests has been questioned and debated for years. Many people believe that animal experimentations can be crucial towards medical breakthroughs such as the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS or asthma. Meanwhile others argue that animals that are used to test cosmetics such as make-up and perfumes are inhuman because is not going to help improve the human race. Animals suffer through multiple types of torture such as being forced to ingest poisonous chemicals, blinded, burned, stapled, and infected with disease viruses. Even though animal experimentation may be considered inhumane to many, animal experimentation is crucial to advancements in medical research and can lead to a better quality of life; on the other hand, animal experimentation should not be used to develop cosmetics because such experimentation is cruel and unnecessary.
Throughout history, beginning as early as 500 BC, animals have been used to test products that will later be utilized by humans (“Animal Testing” 4), what isn’t publicly discussed is the way it will leave the animals after the process is done. Many innocent rabbits, monkeys, mice, and even popular pets such as dogs are harmed during the testing application of cosmetics, medicine, perfumes, and many other consumer products (Donaldson 2). Nevertheless, there are many people whom support the scandal because "it is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective” for human benefit (Drayson). The overall question here is should it even be an authorized form of experimentation in the United States, or anywhere else? The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives to remove animals out of the equation for good (“Alternatives” 1). They are cheaper, and less invasive than the maltreatment of the 26 million innocent animals that are subjected to the heartlessness of testing each year (“Animal Testing” 4). All in all, due to the harsh effects of animal testing, it should be treated as animal cruelty in today’s society.
"Cosmetics and Household-Product Animal Testing | Animals Used for Experimentation | The Issues." PETA. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/cosmetic-household-products-animal-testing/ .
...ts on animals. China is also in the process of decreasing the amount of animal tested products in circulation as well (“Cosmetics and House-Hold Products Animal Testing”). Even though there are alternatives to using animals in this testing, companies in the United States still continue to torture animals for the sake of beauty. There are plenty more ways to experiment with products that do not involve animals in any way, and these tests also produce more reliable information. According to Earth Protect, Tests like this are often cheaper and produce faster results than animal research ever has. For example, there is a model of human cornea tissues that can be subject to eye irritation experiments instead of a rabbit, and there are models of skin cells that can be used for skin irritation tests instead of guinea pigs (“Cosmetic Animal Testing Facts and Alternatives”).
Each year, thousands of animals are brutally tortured in laboratories, in the name of cosmetic research. A movement to ban animal testing for cosmetic purposes has been gaining popularity, with many companies hopping on the bandwagon against this research. New alternatives have been developed to eliminate the necessity to test on animals. This is only a small beginning of what is necessary to end these immoral acts. Animal testing in cosmetics is useless and cruel, and can be accomplished by other methods of research to end the suffering of animals.
A major ethical concern that has been under speculation for many of years is focused around animal ethics, and whether or not certain animal practices are just or inhuman. There are many questions that focus around fundamental issues concerning the moral status of animals. It is critical to understand the difference between a concern for animal welfare and a concern for animal rights. A current issue that is important to understand and analyze is animal experimentation, and although many consider it to be an unethical practice, there are many pros and cons to the controversial topic. Although animal experimentation has been very beneficial medically, the argument can be made that using animals to experiment is not always necessary.
It still comes as a surprise to me that with all the technology in today’s society, we are still relying on animals for cosmetic research. Some people think that it is acceptable and even justified to test on mere animals rather than risk hurting people. So, for these kinds of people, animal testing makes perfect sense. However, in my opinion, animals are living creatures and have the right to live out their lives as nature intended rather than simply surviving in cages while being poked and prodded with whatever scientists fancy. I think it is depressing and sort of grotesque that I am using products that have been tested on animals that are even commonly bred as our pets. So, I began my research to find out what companies still test on animals, why they do so, and what other alternatives they could use in place of animal testing.
Experimentation has been performed on animals such as rats, mice, and primates in testing various products from cosmetics to drugs. The experimentation of animals usually involves pumping a substance into the animal’s stomach or applying it to the skin and eyes; they are confined to cages and not allowed the freedom of their natural way of life. According to a report by PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals),” this causes great stress and discomfort to the animals (2011).” The animals may not die, but they are scared and maimed for the rest of their lives. Practices such as this are still used today even though there are cheaper and more conclusive ways of conducting this testing; in vitro (test tube), genomic, computer modeling technique, and human volunteering. These research methods are more humane, cost effective alternatives to animal testing. “The harms to the animal conflict with perceived societal benefits that will result if ...
Cosmetic animal testing has been a controversial topic for decades but has recently gained more attention from the media due to oppositional organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Those in favor of animal experimentation make the argument that they are taking animals’ lives to save humans’, but is it really necessary to subject animals to torturous conditions or painful experiments in the name of science? Animal experimentation needs to be abolished because it is unethical and selfish to destroy an animal 's life.