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. "Animal Testing" Web Accessed July 30, 2024.]
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" Web Accessed July 30, 2024.]
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. "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
4. Up to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted in the official statistics of animals tested. [Humane Society International. "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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. "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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. "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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." "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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." "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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." "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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." "Animal Testing" Web Accessed August 19, 2024.]
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. "Animal Testing" Web accessed August 19, 2024.]