Please note: For our purposes here, we'll be talking about animal testing as it relates to cosmetics and household products; not medical (scientific) experimentation.

Experimentation on live animals, or "vivisection" began as early as the 17th century. During that time period, Philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) rejected Philosopher Rene Descartes' theory that animals are not able to reason and therefore do not feel pain and suffering. Bentham held that living creatures can suffer and enjoy and that their inability to reason is irrelevant to the moral issue of how animals should be treated. Bentham's philosophy on animals was: "The question is not, can they reason? nor, can they talk?, but, can they suffer?"

The practice of testing cosmetics on animals began in 1933, soon after a woman used Lash Lure mascara to darken her lashes. The woman's eyes first burned, then she went blind, and eventually died. Because of this incident, the Food and Drug Administration passed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938 to protect the public from unsafe cosmetics.

Two of the most common animal tests are the Draize Test (named after FDA scientist John Draize), and the LD50. The Draize Test involves dropping a substance directly into an animal's eyes (usually an albino rabbit) and watching the results. The other test, the LD50, involves force feeding a substance to a group of animals until 50% of the group dies (hence the name, Lethal Dose 50). (OK, I'm done being graphic!)

To this day, one of the largest suppliers (breeders) of laboratory animals is the Charles River Laboratories. Look into the faces of those cute, little white mice on their site and tell me they don't suffer in cruel tests!

Over the years, as more and more companies began using animals to test the safety of their products, animal protection organizations began to emerge. In 1969, The Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) was formed in the U.K. and The John Hopkins Center for the Alternatives to Animal Testing was formed by the Cosmetics, Toiletry and Fragrance Association in 1981.

In 1989, Revlon and Avon became the first major U.S.companies to end testing their products on animals.

Two of the main reasons companies continue to use animals to test their products is to determine the possibledangers to human health and to avoid product liability suits. There are many reliable tests that can now be conducted to determine the safety of products without the use of animals. Click here to take a look at several of those alternatives.......