"Beauty Is Pain" But Whose Pain?

By: Meridian Piper.

Each year 100,000-200,000 animals are killed during cosmetic testing. Around the world, animals are suffering and dying each day to test shampoos, eyedrops, mascaras, and other products. People are not always aware that the cosmetics they use may have caused the torment or death of animals that have the same capacity to feel and hurt as we do.

Animals should not have to suffer through these tests for the benefit of our vanity.

In order to test particular cosmetics, toxic ingredients are poured on rabbit’s skin, dripped into their eyes, and forced down their throats. People, Ethical, Treatment, Animals (PETA) reports in an article titled “Animal Testing 101” that most of these animals are used repeatedly until they either die or are disposed of because they no longer pose any use.

The pain animals suffer is very likely to be much more intense than the pain we as humans suffer because animals live at a level of the senses. Andrea Nolan notes this in an article written on the website Independent. This emphasizes that to treat animals as objects for our benefit is morally wrong. We have an obligation to uphold the rights of living creatures that are incapable of verbally communicating with us.

Animals that are used in cosmetic testing are suffering needlessly; we have already discovered thousands of ingredients that can be used in products that have been demonstrated to be safe. In fact, there is no legitimate reason to utilize animal testing for the progression of cosmetics because newer methods such as tissue and cell testing are shown to offer much more reliable results.

To solve this problem we need to stop supporting companies that test their products on animals. Look for products that have a small symbol (usually of a bunny) that signifies it as being cruelty-free. Rejecting cosmetic products marketed by companies that still use animal testing conveys a message to those companies that now is the time to end animal testing.