Help Stop Animal Testing

Throughout these past three weeks, I’ve discussed the history of animal testing, the tests that animals are freqently used on, and the companies that choose to test on animals and companies that choose to not test on animals. When learning about issues like this, it’s important to understand the impact we, as people, play into this. The more we support and purchase the products of companies that test on animals, the more animals are going to be tested on. This week, I will discuss the impact social media can have on helping stop animal testing, as well as, the steps one can take in order to contribute to ending the tests animals are put through for our beauty.

Steps one can Take to end Animal Testing

One of the first steps one can make to becoming cruelty free and to help animals who are tested on is to purchase cruelty free products. Since there are a lot of products to remember that do or do not test on animals, an easy way to quickly determine if a product is cruelty free is from the packaging.

The Ethical Elephant wrote an article on how one can determine if products have been tested on animals versus how they have not been tested on animals. Below, I’ve included a picture that shows the three symbols on products that indicate that the products were not tested on animals. In order for these symbols to be put on products, companies must, “pay to license and use one of the three certified bunny logos,” (Ethical Elephant, 2015).

While some cruelty-free brands do no pay to have their logos on, this is a good starting point to determine if a product is cruelty free. As the Ethical Elephant mentioned, this is a good strategy to implement into one's day-to-day lives when they have a product in front of them that they want to inspect (Ethical Elephant, 2015).

The second way someone can help end animal testing is by signing petitions and donating money, if they are able to. There are a variety of locations one can find places to donate, but below I’ve included three links where one can donate or sign a petition. PETA has a section on their website where they ask those to consider donating. To the left, I've included a

screenshot of what one will see when they look to donate through PETA's website (PETA, n.d.). Change.org is another website that allows people to sign a petition to stop animal testing. This petition asks that 5,000 sign it to, hopefully, create change for the animals that are tested on.

To the right, I've included a screenshot of what one would see when they go to the website to sign (Hendry, 2019).

The third way someone can help end animal testing is to inform and educate those around them. The more exposure animal testing has, the more people will be passionate about the subject and will want to change what is happening to animals every day. LUSH, a beauty brand originated out of the UK, sought to educate those in the London area about animal testing. In the video, they are used humans to depict the animals that are tested on (LUSH, 2012).

---

Impact of Social Media and Animal Testing

When thinking about a social movement such as animal testing, it’s important because it educates people about animal testing and creates a platform for those who do not agree to speak up. While the textbook, Social Media: A Critical Introduction, states that, “social networks are… a necessary but not sufficient condition for new social condition for new social movements of our time,” (Fuchs, 2017, p.107), meaning that while social media is helpful to spread the word, there needs to be more done in order to effectively change animal testing.

Social media, according to Manuel Castells serves as a foundation for people to mass communicate with others and they are able to say what they want, when they want (Fuchs, 2017, p.110). Social media creates a platform for users to express themselves.

Advertising on Social Media

Advertisements shown on media can be to sell people on a product or to raise awareness on specific topics. Below, I've included two advertisements from the BoredPanda website that show that animals are used in the making of cosmetics (Nėjė, 2014).

While these advertisements are disturbing to view, they pose a great issue that animals are being used for people's cosmetic products.

---

Social media creates a platform for people to spread and gain knowledge on animal testing. Before starting this project, I didn't realize there were so many different procedures animals were put through. Many popular brands have chosen to continue to test on animals instead of choosing to save animals. Without social media, I wouldn't know as much as I do now. Social media has taught me that animal testing for our own beauty needs to stop.

---

References

Ethical Elephant. (2015, October 23). How to know when cosmetics are cruelty-free?. Retrieved from https://ethicalelephant.com/how-to-tell-cosmetics-are-cruelty-free/

Fuchs, C. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Hendry, E. (2019). Sign the petition. Retrieved from https://www.change.org/p/stop-animal-testing-da36de20-3b2e-4fcd-8aac-826ed78aa051

LUSH. (2012, April 25). Lush fighting animal testing: Live demonstration at Regents Street[Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4K9iSyj_lk

Nėjė, J. (2014, June 16). 33 powerful animal advertisement examples that tells the uncomfortable truth. Retrieved from https://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-animal-ads/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

PETA. (n.d.). All animals deserve our love, protection, and respect. Retrieved from https://support.peta.org/page/6781/donate/1