Info on animal testing available on-line

PUPPYLOVE WITH KATE WHITNEY

Valley Patriot PuppyGirl Kate Whitney of one Tail at a Time

By: PuppyGirl Kate Whitney – April, 2012

This month I decided to write about a subject that is not very pleasant – testing on animals. I was on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) website one day (www.peta.org) and came across a whole section that promotes awareness about this topic. As I read through what was on the website, I only grew more curious.

I googled the subject and found hundreds of websites that talk about animal testing. At first I was pretty emotional and I cried. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Then that sadness turned to anger and disgust. I scrolled through the endless number of websites trying to learn all I could about testing on animals. I channeled that anger I had inside into writing this article.

I hope that you find this topic as eye opening as I did, and maybe it will even convince you to change some of your habits, to start reading labels, and only buy products that are not tested on animals.

DashI feel like I should put a warning on this article because some parts are pretty disturbing. However, I think it’s important that the American people who love animals know what is being done to millions of innocent ones.

To educated myself on this topic, I tried to read as much as I could and watch as many news clips that I could find.

 

There is one video on PETA’s website that I began to watch and had to turn it off after about six seconds. It’s a video that shows the animals in actual testing situations. It was absolutely, horrifically disgusting. If anyone thinks they can handle the video the website is http://www.peta.org/actioncenter/testing.asp. For anyone who doesn’t believe this exists, or who needs to see something to get them mad, watch the video. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Some of you might have heard about animal testing but don’t really know what it entails. Well, you’re in luck because after researching the topic, I now know the ugly, horrible truth and I am going to share it with you. So what does it mean when a product is tested on animals, and what animals are used for testing?

The number of animals that are tortured and killed in US laboratories every year is in the millions. Companies pump their products into animal’s stomachs, rub the product onto their skin, squirt it into their eyes, or force the animals to inhale them as aerosol sprays.1

Animals that are used for testing include monkeys, birds, rats, baboons, mice, dogs, cats, rabbits, farm animals, and guinea pigs.

On the PETA website, there is a list of companies that do and do not test on animals. The companies that are featured on the list include cosmetic, personal care, and household cleaning product companies.

What’s inexcusable about this list, is that there is no law that requires animal testing of these products.

Each company purposely chooses to test their products on innocent animals. Put another way, these companies do not have to test on animals but do anyway. Personally, I think this is just ridiculous and it makes me mad.

Not featured on the list are companies that are required by law to test on animals, such as pharmaceuticals, automotive and garden chemicals, food additives, etc.

For your convenience here are a few of the companies that do NOT test on animals. 2.

Abercrombie & Fitch, Almay, Avon Products, Inc., Bare Escentuals, Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop, Bumble and Bumble, Burt’s Bees, Crabtree & Evelyn Cosmetics, Hello Kitty, L’Occitane, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Revlon, Trader Joe’s Company, and Victoria’s Secret (for a full list, visit http://www.caring consumer.com/resources_companies.asp)

Some companies that DO test on animals are 3: (for a full list go to above link as well)

Arm & Hammer, Bic Corporation, Clairol, Clorox, Cover Girl, Johnson & Johnson, Oral-B, and Pantene.

Something that we give to our dogs every day and don’t really think twice about is dog food. Take a minute to think about the following statements:

Dogs and cats are confined to tiny lab cages for years and are forced to participate in horrible experiments in order to test dog and cat food. Lonely dogs are driven mad from confinement in barren steel and cement cells. Dogs are dumped on cold concrete flooring after having chunks of muscle cut out of their thighs.

Experimenters severed dogs’ vocal cords in order to keep them quiet. And lastly, sick dogs were languishing in their cages desperately needing veterinary care.4 You would probably say I’m crazy and made those statements up, right?

And things like that don’t happen? Wrong.

Those things all did happen and they were exposed when PETA conducted an undercover investigation that lasted nine months to expose a laboratory that conducts cruel animal testing for companies like Iams and other major companion-animals food companies.

Don’t believe it? Watch this video and see for yourself, at; http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=iams&Player=wm

Want to view pictures and learn about some of the dogs used in the experiment? Type in this link http://www.iamscruelty.com/photos.asp and make sure you have a box of tissues next to you. Why are these animals suffering like this?

PETA found that testing like this occurs so that the companies can add “new and improved” to their packaging. You can find a complete list of food companies that do not test on animals by visiting the link http://www.caringconsumer.com/resources_companies.asp and scrolling to the bottom. Here are a few that are on the list:

 

Kate Whitney, The Valley Patriot's PuppyGirl
Kate Whitney, The Valley Patriot’s PuppyGirl

Nature’s Variety, PetGuard, Veterinary Nutritional Formula, and Active Life Pet Products

So why haven’t these cruel ways of testing on animals changed? New research methods, like computer models, cell cultures, and human studies are more accurate, less expensive, and much more humane. 5 Researchers are hesitant to change their ways.

They are comfortable with the testing routines they know. Change is slow coming, and unless we start to do something, things will never change. If you want to start living a cruelty-free life visit http://www.peta.org/living to find out how.

After writing this article, I threw out anything in my house that was on the “tested on animals” list. I will never buy products that are tested on animals ever again. The testing often provides misleading and inaccurate results and even if a product has blinded an animal, it can still be marketed to us.

So why is this testing even done? What good is it doing?

Apparently some researchers haven’t noticed that humans and animals differ significantly, making animal drug tests dangerous and unreliable.

I’m not telling my readers to stop using products on the “do test on animals list” or not to buy Iams food dog food. People are allowed to make their own decisions and live their lives as they please. I just hope that this opened your eyes to some things that maybe you never knew.

So even if you change just one product you use, you will be making a difference, and possibly even saving a life.

(Endnotes)1

PETA

Caring Consumer

Caring Consumer

Don’t Test

PETA Action Center

Consumers

If you are interested in adopting a puppy or becoming a foster parent to a puppy waiting for a home you can email Kate at Kwswingrite@aol.com