animaltesting

Although there are many alternatives to animal testing, there are still people that believe that animal testing is the only way to test substances. Read on to learn about some of the inhumane and horrific tests that helpless animals are subjected to in the name of science.
The Draize Eye Test
This test is used to judge whether or not a substance will cause damage to the eye. They use concious rabbits for this test. They are held immobile while drops are put into their eyes. They are restrained in a way that they cannot use their paws to wipe the substance out of their eyes. The rabbits scream in pain when the drops are put into their eyes. Rabbits do not have tear ducts, so the substance can not be washed away. If the rabbit does not die from breaking it's neck from trying to get away, the rabbit suffers swollen eyelids, bleeding, and blindness. Once these reactions are recorded, the rabbits are killed or they are put into more tests.
Acute Toxicity Tests or Lethal Dose
This test determines the amount of a substance it will take to kill an animal. The animal is forced to ingest substances through stomach tubes, forced to inhale substances, injected with substances, or substances are applied dermally to exposed skin. The animals will suffer from convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis, and bleeding (from the eyes, nose, mouth, or rectum). These tests do not provide instant results to the scientists. The tests last anywhere from 28-90 days, and some tests go on for as long as 2 years. The scientists do not give the animals any pain killers because they say that it would interfere with the test results.
After reading this, does your stomach get sick? Well, these and other tests are performed every day on animals that are defenseless and innocent. The John Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing stated that the Draize test 'does not adequately reflect the degree of irritancy in humans.' The Lethal Dose test shows that a substance is toxic to the animal, but we do not know what that means for humans. The results of these tests depend on the age and sex of the animals, experimental settings, and other variables. These are only two of the many tests that are run on animals.

Click here to see pictures of the torture that animals go through.