Saturday, August 1, 2009

My Stance on Animal Testing

Recently, I received a message from a fellow youtuber, but I had accidentally deleted it. So if you are reading this blog entry right now, I'm very sorry I couldn't get back to you directly.






First of all and foremost, what I'm about to say is my personal belief. It's a sensitive subject, but I have the freedom of believing and saying what I believe, w/in the ethical realm of my profession. Feel free to have your own opinion, and feel free to share them with me. Just don't get too defensive or expect to convert my belief. And remember, there's never absolutely black or white in the real world.









So the youtuber said that since I am going to be a vet, why do I still use animal tested products. Well... to be honest, most companies test on animals. Of course, that should not be a legitimate reason for using animal tested products.







The truth is even when some companies claim that their products are Cruelty Free or they have that bunny symbol, they are lying. Just like any pharmaceutical products, before they can be mass manufactured and available for the general consumers to purchase, they must be tested and approved.





Since no one (human that is) wants to risk their health or life, scientists have no choice but to test these products on animals first. It can be very misleading when some companies claim that they are Cruelty Free, because they are not the ones who did the animal testing. They simply hired someone else to perform the testing and didn't get their hands dirty. So I don't really believe in 100% Cruelty Free products, throughout its development and production process.









That being said, I do have a second thought when I'm buying makeup products that are known to test on animals (e.g. CG). And I also think that animal testing for makeup or skincare products are somewhat unnecessary because there are already infinite choices of beauty products in the market. There's really no need for the constant development...... But guess what, wherever there's demand, businessmen will take the opportunity and supply.






As for research on animals for medical purposes, I am a bit more pro. Just because it's more life-threatening, and we do need cures for many current untreatable diseases. And remember, any scientific findings can benefit both humans and animals in the future.







I don't want to go into too much details...... I'm not saying "I want to test everything on our furry little friends!!!!" Just to reiterate the point that there's no absolute black and white: A lot people in the vet community actually are quite repulsive of PETA propaganda because a lot of materials are very misleading and misrepresented. A lot of vets are actually opposing the Prop 2 that was passed last year because it fails to address many other animal welfare issues. And what do you think about all the vets who are non-vegetarians????









One of my pre-vet friends used to tell me that "To every scientific discovery or advancement, there must be some sacrifice." If you just process that in your brain for a moment, you'll realize it is the reality.





But to tell you the truth, I probably will never be able to become a laboratory veterinarian. I alone may be too weak to make much of an impact. But before enough people do make a change to the current legislation to limit the extent of animal testing for beauty products, it's up to your own judgement to buy what you want.

2 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you. You are probably the only person I met in the blogger that thinks the same things with me. I'm a biologist and I know that these research on animals should be done to some extend.. Until someone invents a new method that doesn't require animal testing and is still reliable, we have to do these experiments.. Because human body is still a big misery, you never know what you will end up with when you use a substance.. Anyways I can talk a lot on this topic but there is no need to, 'cos you think the same :))

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  2. "Since no one (human that is) wants to risk their health or life, scientists have no choice but to test these products on animals first."

    --So you think that just because you do not want to use something that has not been tested on animals first, these animals are justifiably hurt so that you can feel safer using these products?
    Animal testing does NOT protect you from getting an allergic reaction to the product since your skin is different from the animal's.


    "The truth is even when some companies claim that their products are Cruelty Free or they have that bunny symbol, they are lying."

    ----100% Cruelty Free products DO exist.
    It is true that most companies that claim to be cruelty free are lying since they will say that their "final product was not tested on animals" or that their "brand does not test on animals", this means that the product was tested on animals at some point during its making or that the company indirectly tested the product by allowing its associates to perform tests on animals.

    However, the Leaping Bunny's list (http://www.leapingbunny.org/) guaranties that the products labeled with their symbol are 100% cruelty free.


    Using cosmetics has nothing to do with medicine, it is purely a way for humans to make themselves appear more attractive, it does not benefit animals in any way, yet they have to suffer the consequences of horrific tests such as convulsions, vomiting, and even ruptures of internal organs.

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