Question: why does animal testing happen, why do they only test on animals

Mark Fogg answered on 14 Jun 2010:

Testing on animals is not the only testing that is done with pharmaceuticals, but it’s probably the most important. By law, it has to be done to ensure any medicines are unlikely to harm humans.
Animal bodies, including humans, are very complicated, they’re made up of many biochemical interactions that we don’t yet fully understand. We can’t predict easily how a particular medicine will react once inside a body. As it’s not legal or ethical to test new drugs on humans, it’s very sad, but the next best things is animals. If people are really bothered, I think they should have every right to refuse a treatment that has been tested on an animal. It’s a very difficult moral question to answer, but I prefer to take medicine that’s as safe as possible before it gets inside me or my little daughter. I also want to know it’s highly likely to work and make me well again. Of course, it will be better when we’ve finally found a way to predict accurately the internal workings of our bodies, and are able to simulate the effects of drugs using computer models, only then will the lab rats be safe. The more research done on how bodies work, the sooner that day will come.
Having said that, I think testing cosmetics on animals is completely unnecessary. If someone wants to paint their face, then they should volunteer to be tested on, it’s purely a vanity issue in probably 99% of cases. I don’t expect to be trampled in the rush with people volunteering.