Animal Testing

Hi, I’m Sophie, and I am a young Future Environmental Defender. I joined FED Up because I wanted to do something to help. Everyone spends so much time in their own little world that they don’t realise the impact they have on the environment around them. I think that FED Up is a good way to get everyone involved and doing their part to clean up a mess that was made by the generations of people who came before us. It helps to get the younger generation to look up from their devices and pay attention to what is going on around them.

I am passionate about many things. One of the most important issues for me is animal exploitation, specifically the use of animals in product testing for things like medicines, drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, personal care items, and household items.

There are approximately 8.77 million species in the world, with more being discovered every day. Of these there is only one that will purposely wreck homes, tear apart families and destroy the environment, with no thought to what will happen in the future. The only species to ever do this is humans. We consider ourselves the “most intelligent animals” but how can this be if we are the only ones who are not protecting the planet, the only ones who create wars to ensure peace and the only ones who support an industry that is founded on the pain and suffering of other species.

There are at least 115 million animals used annually for the testing of products, around the world, and these numbers are not decreasing. These tests happen everywhere, and for everything. They are done on variety of different animals such as mice, fish, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals, birds, cats, dogs, pigs and monkeys. They are used for many different tests for biological research, genetic modification and regulatory testing for chemicals and cosmetics. Australia is one of the top five countries who perform tests on animals, this not something to be proud of and not a list that we want to been, so why don’t we stop it?

There are so many things wrong with animal testing. The process is harmful and cruel for the animals; they are burnt, poisoned, blinded and eventually killed, all in the name of research. It is an outdated, unnecessary and inaccurate process. There are many differences between humans and animals, they have a different biological structure. As well as this there are other, better, alternatives to procure the same results. Many scientists are working on other ways for the companies to get the result that they want, without the pain and torture, that would actually be more cost effective for them. Not only that but there are companies that have proved that animal testing is not necessary for success. As well as all of this, animal testing has major environmental consequences, with the companies using large amounts of energy, creating enormous levels of pollution and all of the waste production from the laboratories destroying the surrounding environment.

We need to help give a voice to those who don’t have one. We need to help fight for those who cant do it themselves. And we need to help protect those who deserve protection.

I will continue to explore each of the issue that mentioned in more detail over the coming months.

#Animals