Animal Testing - 18
Regulatory agencies across the globe make it mandatory for companies to get their 'products' tested for toxicity before making them available in the market. These 'products', which range from prescription drugs to cosmetics, are tested on animals to check for the degree of skin irritation, skin penetration, eye irritation, carcinogenicity, etc. On the basis of these tests, it is determined whether the said product is fit for human use or not.
Even though it is not mandatory to get premarket approval for all the products, the manufacturer is expected to place a warming note on the product if it has not been tested. Doing so can have negative implications on the brand, and therefore the companies prefer to go with animal testing. Sometimes the animals are specifically purpose bred for lab experiments, and sometimes they are captured in the wild. Innumerable educational institutes, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, and several other scientific institutes use animal experimentation for research purpose.
What's Wrong With Animal Testing?
Animal testing is not just restricted to product testing, but goes well beyond that. It is widely used for the development of medical procedures and to gain scientific knowledge. Other than mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs, the lengthy list of animals used in research labs also includes fruit flies, frogs, cats, dogs, pigs and non-human primates. It is estimated that more than 100 million animals fall prey to animal testing every year.
Several animal rights organizations, including the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have questioned the legitimacy of this practice wherein animals are subjected to torture in the name of 'scientific research'. Animal rights activists, along with animal lovers from across the world, are trying their best to get this inhumane practice outlawed. These people stress on the fact that there is no dearth of arguments against the practice - both on ethical and scientific
Even though it is not mandatory to get premarket approval for all the products, the manufacturer is expected to place a warming note on the product if it has not been tested. Doing so can have negative implications on the brand, and therefore the companies prefer to go with animal testing. Sometimes the animals are specifically purpose bred for lab experiments, and sometimes they are captured in the wild. Innumerable educational institutes, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, and several other scientific institutes use animal experimentation for research purpose.
What's Wrong With Animal Testing?
Animal testing is not just restricted to product testing, but goes well beyond that. It is widely used for the development of medical procedures and to gain scientific knowledge. Other than mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs, the lengthy list of animals used in research labs also includes fruit flies, frogs, cats, dogs, pigs and non-human primates. It is estimated that more than 100 million animals fall prey to animal testing every year.
Several animal rights organizations, including the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have questioned the legitimacy of this practice wherein animals are subjected to torture in the name of 'scientific research'. Animal rights activists, along with animal lovers from across the world, are trying their best to get this inhumane practice outlawed. These people stress on the fact that there is no dearth of arguments against the practice - both on ethical and scientific