The 1950s were thriving with happiness. Babies were being born all over the place, classic cars were being made, and movies loved by generations to come were being released; life was good. This time period had quite a joyful and cheery appearance, but it seemed to blind some people from a nightmare that was far too real. A dark and awful secret hid behind everybody’s smiling faces - human experimentation. Most experiments that took place were hidden from the public for many years, but once they were discovered, people became furious and demanded that it be stopped. Subsequently, scientists began to look for different test subjects and animals were the next best thing. Many people may argue that experimenting on animals is necessary for the safety of human beings, but at what costs? It is cruel, expensive, inaccurate, and it isn’t even necessary due to the invention of multiple alternatives. Animal’s lives are being wasted for the convenience of human beings and it is completely unethical.

According to a piece published by the Humane Society International titled Rabbits: Blinded for Beauty, the Draize Eye and Skin test, a type of experimentation done on rabbits, has been going on for many years and still continues to this day despite many efforts to shut it down. The rabbits that are used are held back in full body restraints and their fur is shaved off while their eyes are pinned open with clips so that they can not blink away any chemicals put into them. This method is primarily used by cosmetic companies. Although some may say that performing this type of experiment is necessary when it comes to medicine, such as ointment or eye drops, most would agree that it is unethical and cruel to blind, or maybe even kill an animal for something as pointless as a new eyeliner. According to an article published by the US Department of Agriculture in June of 2017, nearly 71,350 animals suffered pain while being experimented on in 2016 and they were not given any anesthesia for relief. In 2019, PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, published an article informing people that, on top of the pain that they endure, animals also suffer from fear and loneliness, but researches don’t seem to care, even if they end up being hated for it. They also don’t seem to care that animal testing is one of the most expensive methods of experimentation.

In 2017, the Humane Society International compared multiple animal test costs to experiments that they conducted themselves using alternatives that did not involve an animal test subject of any kind. In every scenario, the alternative came out less expensive. Most people might wonder why they should care that this type of testing is more expensive. Why should they worry if they aren’t paying for it? Well actually, according to the Change Organization, a majority of animal experimentation is being supported by the government, which means that they are helping pay for it with the money that they receive from taxes: 16 billion dollars worth to be exact. As most people have probably figured out by now, the government doesn’t like change even if something much more reliable, less expensive, and even more accurate is sitting right under their noses and it’s causing some problems.

Just last year, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed that 92 out of 100 drug tests that are determined effective in animals fail in humans and according to The Science Museum Organization, in the 1950s a sleeping pill called thalidomide caused over 10,000 babies to be born with very severe deformities. Though, when tested on pregnant mice and guinea pigs, no birth defects occurred, but for some reason scientists can’t seem to take the hint; rodents aren’t the same as human beings. There have been way too many times that researchers have declared a drug safe just because it has been effective in a mouse and that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths in humans, but luckily people who actually seem to care about this growing problem have finally developed ways to end animal testing for good.

More than fifty different alternatives have been invented, but not just for the sake of gaining more accurate results for humans, but to helps animals gain their freedom back. MatTek Corporation last updated its information on its state-of-the-art human skin substitute in 2019. Their product is called EpiDerm and it is a 3D synthetic skin used for testing skin care products such as ointment or soap. It is taking the place of the Draize Eye and Skin test that is wasting poor, innocent rabbit’s lives. Harvard Wyss Institute has also developed an alternative, but unlike EpiDerm, it is very small and compact. They have created “organs-on-chips” that contain actual human cells grown in a newly developed system to completely copy the structure of human organs. The chips can be used for multiple types of testing: drug testing, disease research, and toxicity testing are just a few of the many possibilities. Those three types of experimentation have all been used on the chips and the results have been much more accurate than the ones recorded from animal tests. Hopefully, in the near future, more and more companies will find more alternatives and animal testing will be completely abolished because it will be simply too outdated.

Ever since the 1950s, when people became fully aware of human experimentation, animals have taken the spotlight of the laboratory floor, but not intentionally. They were taken just to be put in a cage for the rest of their life and for what? Things that they can’t even use? Animals are put through so much on a daily, and 90% of the time, the pain that they go through ends up being a waste of time and money, but the future seems to hold many alternative methods that will allow the animals that are wrongly forced into this lifestyle of cruelty and testing, the freedom that they so rightfully deserve.