11 Facts About Animal Testing

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1. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year.^[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Top Five Shocking Animal Experimentation Facts." Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
2. 92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work.^[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Animal Testing Is Bad Science: Point/Counterpoint." Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
3. Labs that use mice, rats, birds, reptiles and amphibians are exempted from the minimal protections under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).^[New England Anti-Vivisection Society. "Laws and Regulations | Animal Use in Research." Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
4. Up to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted in the official statistics of animals tested. Take a stand by kidnapping your friends’ products that were tested on animals (seriously!). Sign up for Kidnapped Cosmetics.^[Humane Society International. "About Animal Testing." Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
5. Europe, the world’s largest cosmetic market, Israel and India have already banned animal testing for cosmetics, and the sale or import of newly animal-tested beauty products.^[Humane Society International & The Humane Society of the United States. "Infographic: Ending Animal Testing For Cosmetics." Web Accessed March 2, 2015.]
6. Even animals that are protected under the AWA can be abused and tortured. And the law doesn’t require the use of valid alternatives to animals, even if they are available.^[Vanderau, Melanie L. "Science at any cost: The ineffectiveness and underenforcement of the Animal Welfare Act." Penn St. Envtl. L. Rev. 14 (2006): 721-721.]
7. According to the Humane Society, registration of a single pesticide requires more than 50 experiments and the use of as many as 12,000 animals.^[Moxley, Angela. "The End of Animal Testing." The Humane Society of the United States, 2010. Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
8. In tests of potential carcinogens, subjects are given a substance every day for 2 years. Others tests involve killing pregnant animals and testing their fetuses.^[Moxley, Angela. "The End of Animal Testing." The Humane Society of the United States, 2010. Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
9. The real-life applications for some of the tested substances are as trivial as an “improved” laundry detergent, new eye shadow, or copycat drugs to replace a profitable pharmaceutical whose patent expired.^[Moxley, Angela. "The End of Animal Testing." The Humane Society of the United States, 2010. Web Accessed March 3, 2015.]
10. Alternative tests achieve one or more of the “3 R’s:” replaces a procedure that uses animals with a procedure that doesn’t, reduces the number of animals used in a procedure, refines a procedure to alleviate or minimize potential animal pain.^[Ibrahim, Darian M. "Reduce, refine, replace: The failure of the three R's and the future of animal experimentation." U. Chi. Legal F, 2006. Web Accessed March 20, 2015.]
11. Several cosmetic tests commonly performed on mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs include: skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain relief.^[Humane Society of the United States. "Fact Sheet: Animal Testing." Web accessed November 2, 2015.]