Animals Used for Experimentation FAQs

“Why do companies continue to test products on animals?” 

Companies test on animals to provide data that they can use to defend themselves when they are sued by injured consumers—even though some courts have ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wasn’t able to prove that the results of animal tests can be applied to humans. Because these tests aren’t reliable, companies can get away with selling almost any product.

 If cosmetics or household products blind or poison animals during tests, they are often sold anyway. Companies use the fact that the products have been tested, instead of the actual test results, to support the claim that they are trying to protect consumers. In most cases, companies settle out of court because they’d rather pay off the injured consumer than have the public know that their animal tests are unreliable. In some cases, courts have ruled in favor of the injured consumers, but in the end, animal tests protect no one.

 

“Does the law require cosmetics and household products to be tested on animals?”

Absolutely not! Neither the FDA nor the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission requires cosmetics or household products to be tested on animals. There is enough existing safety data and alternative methods to end animal testing of these products. Every ingredient—even water—has been tested on animals in the past, and we can help prevent future animal testing by buying only from cruelty-free companies.

“Doesn't the law protect animals from cruelty?”

There is no law in the U.S. that prevents any animal experiment—no matter how unnecessary or painful. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is very weak and poorly enforced, and it does not protect rats and mice (the most common victims of animal experiments), cold-blooded animals, birds, or animals who are used for food. Under the AWA, animals can be starved, electrically shocked, driven insane, or burned with a blowtorch—as long as it’s done in a clean laboratory.

 

“Don't scientists care about the animals they experiment on? Doesn't their research depend on the animals’ well-being?”

Investigations at even the most well-known institutions show that this is simply not the case. Many experimenters become calloused after years of research and don’t see the animals’ suffering. They treat animals like disposable tools and consider proper animal care to be too expensive.

“What about experiments in which animals are observed but not harmed?”

If there really is no harm, we don’t object. But “no harm” means that animals aren’t isolated in barren, cold steel cages because even confinement causes stress and fear—differences in blood pressure between caged and free animals have been well documented. Caged animals also suffer because they are prevented from performing their normal behaviors and social interactions.