Caged, poisoned, killed

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Jom Ward

A survey of the American Medical Association found that 75 percent of Americans oppose animal testing. Yet, huge corporations take advantage of our selfish laziness and continue killing innocent animals. If you buy products from companies like Proctor & Gamble Co., which continues its inhumane practices after repeated promises to stop, you are consenting - even contributing - to the torture of animals.

Take the common eye irritancy tests, for example, in which a substance is dropped into the eyes of a group of rabbits who are immobilized in stocks with their eyes clipped open, and without anesthesia. Lab technicians record the damage to the eyes over periods lasting up to 18 days. Over that time, the rabbits experience swollen eyes, bleeding, inflamed irises, massive deterioration, ulceration and blindness. Many break their necks or backs trying to escape.

All this so we have safe products. But these tests don't even work. There are enormous differences in physiology and metabolism, for instance, between humans and rabbits. One major difference is that rabbits cannot secrete tears to wash the toxins out of their eyes. Further, the stressful conditions of being caged in a laboratory with no stimulation or exercise impairs pulse rates, immune functions and so forth, making the tests unreliable. Consider for example that more than half of all prescription drugs the FDA approved between 1976 and 1985 on the strength of animal tests caused side effects in humans so serious that the drugs had to be relabeled or removed from the market altogether.

Many companies now have developed far more reliable alternatives to animal testing, which include sophisticated mathematical and computer models, cell and tissue cultures, using parts from deceased humans, formulating products from ingredients already known to be safe, and combinations of these and other cruelty-free methods.

Yet some companies still engage in senseless torture by conducting tests like acute toxicity tests, also called lethal dose or poisoning tests, which determine the amount of a substance that will kill a percentage, often 100 percent, of a group of animals.

In these atrocious tests, substances are forced by tube into the animals' stomachs or through holes cut into their throats. Or the poisons may be injected into a vein, or the abdomen lining or under the skin; inhaled through a gas mask; mixed in the food; or forced into the eyes, rectum, or vagina. Experimenters then observe and record the animals' reactions, which usually consist of convulsions, skin eruptions, emaciation, constipation, diarrhea, labored breathing, vomiting and bleeding from the eyes, nose or mouth.

The tests can sometimes last for weeks.

And like other animal tests, they are unreliable, and do nothing to protect us consumers. What's worse is that there are no laws requiring animal testing for cosmetics and household products. The FDA only requires that each ingredient in cosmetic products be "adequately substantiated for safety" before it's marketed or that it has a warning label saying its safety has not been determined. Household products, like Tide and Spic and Span from Proctor & Gamble, also do not require animal testing by law.

Yet certain companies choose to engage in these unreliable forms of torture anyway. One of the main reasons is the very unreliability of animal testing, since the inconclusive and easily manipulated tests allow manufacturers to put pretty much any product out. Animal tests are also appealing to corporations because they are often cheaper than alternative methods. So it comes down to them saving money.

The best thing we can do is simply refuse to purchase any products manufactured by companies that engage in animal testing. You can find out which companies do and which do not by looking for animal safe labels, but these can even be misleading, since there is no regulation on them.

The best thing to do is acquire a list of which companies and products to boycott, and which to support. These can be found through a simple query on the Internet, which is where I found most of the information in this column.

You can also write to your local politicians urging them to support legislation regulating animal testing. Again, the Internet is a great place to do this.

Remember that if you buy products from companies that test on animals, you are supporting the senseless torture of innocent creatures.

Jon Ward is a creative writing and astronomy junior. His column, Who's the Bull Goose Looney? appears every Thursday and he can be reached via e-mail at Jon.Ward@wildcat.arizona.edu.