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By Krzanowski M. & Simonson L. Finding out about animal testing was very fascinating when we learned about it in our Animals & Society class. When we were assigned in class to do our own investigation on the things we owned we were amazed by what we found out. That had us thinking… how many people are aware of their product being cruelty or non-cruelty free and do people even know what that means? So we decided to send out a survey…  Background Info
Animal testing has become highly criticized by animal protection and animal rights groups over the last couple of years. Due to people becoming more aware of the harm animals are put through when being tested, there has now been a law passed in several countries to make the practice more ‘humane’. Animal testing and its ethics, has been, and still continues to be one of the biggest debates and issues we deal with today. Humans have been doing research on living animals “since at least 500 BC according to procon and “An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United Statesfor scientific and commercial testing.” Humans use animals to try and find medical treatments, medications, to make sure that products are safe for human use, cures for diseases, etc. Regulations Around 1966, the U.S. regulated animal testing with the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The AWA defines "animal" as "any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm blooded animal." They exclude animals who are used for food and other purposes, those include: birds, rats and mice bred for research, cold-blooded animals, and farm animals. The Animal Welfare Act requires that each facility that is doing research develops an internal Institutional Animal Committee ( also known as IACUC) to "represent society's concerns regarding the welfare of animal subjects." The Committee must have at least three members, that includes; one must be a veterinarian and the other must be unaffiliated with the institution. The AWA does not regulate the experiments even though they do regulate the housing and transportation of the animals who are used for research. Key Findings Our survey included a total of one hundred and twenty two responses. We both posted it on our facebook pages to get these responses by people. Everyone answered each question with one hundred and twenty two responses to every question. Our survey included six questions which included:
 Our second question was, do you know if cosmetics, toiletries, and household products you currently use are tested on animals? Out of one hundred and twenty-two people 26.2% said yes they are aware of what products they use are tested on animals, 67.2% said no, they are not aware of what products they use are tested on animals, and 6.6% said they are only aware of if their cosmetics products are being tested on animals or not. This questions did not surprise us because we both were the same way. Most people do not know if what they buy is cruelty free. Most people do not check the label or us an app. We were the same way until we learned how to check a product. There are many useful apps like cruelty cutter, cruelty free, bunny free, and happy bunny that are great apps. They are very easy to use. All you have to do is scan the label and it tells you. Letting people know about these apps are great and can help anyone who wants to buy cruelty free products.  The third question we asked was, products that are not tested on animals are considered to be "cruelty free." Do you check what you buy for animal cruelty free products? Our results from this question showed that 70.5% of people said no, they do not check for animal cruelty free products before they buy it. On the other hand 25.4% said yes, they do check if the products they are buying are animal cruelty free. Where as, 4.1% said they only check their cosmetic items to see if it is animal cruelty free before buying. There has been an increase in demand for cruelty free products in recent years. There are more products out on the market that are cruelty free products making it easier for everyone to buy. A survey was conducted by thejournal.ie whether people would be less likely to buy products that are tested on animals. Thirty six percent of people said yes, 30% said no, 20% only if I knew which is 20%, 10% said if I had an alternative, and 2% said I don’t know. People are more likely to buy products that are not tested on animals. In our survey most people do not check if their products are tested on animals. Not many people know how to check it whether it be an app or how they know by the label. Educating people on this will help this problem.  Our fourth question we asked participants was; do you support cruelty free products? Out of one hundred and twenty two people, 72.1% said yes, they do support cruelty free products whereas, 9% said no, they do not support cruelty free products. The rest of the participants, 18.9%, said sometimes they support cruelty free products. The humane society did a survey asking 802 participants their opinions on animal testing. Their findings include: three in four voters feel just as safe if non-animal methods were used for testing products instead of animal testing. Humane society states that, “more than two-thirds of voters are opposed to using animals to test cosmetics and personal care products.” That 72% of women are hugely against animal testing of cosmetics. Other findings consist of 70% think that it should be illegal to test on animals. This is similar to the results of our survey because the majority of both surveys on the support of cruelty free products consist of participants saying that they do support cruelty free products.  The fifth question we asked participants was, do you encourage others to use cruelty free products? We found this question to be very interesting because it was pretty evenly spread out in the results answered by our participants. Out of one hundred and twenty two people, 35.2% of participants said yes, they do encourage others to use cruelty free products. 29.5% said no, they do not encourage others to use cruelty free products, and the remaining, 35.2%, stated that they somewhat encourage others to use cruelty free products.  Our sixth question stated, would you like to gain more information about animal testing? Out of one hundred and twenty two people, 55.7% of people say they would like to gain more information about animals used for testing while 44.3% of people said they would not like to learn more information. We were surprised by these numbers because most people are on the animals side throughout this survey saying they support animal free products and they are aware it happens, but then they do not want to learn more about this. Many people care about these animals, but at the end of the day they do not want to learn or help these animals. It is sad that we use animals so much for human benefit, but then humans cannot help out the animals. After taken this class we both would love to educate people about animal testing since it is a big deal within our society.  You can learn more about animal testing and how to shop for cruelty free products at these sites: Cruelty Free Kitty (basic information on cosmetics testing, shopping guides, and more) What is Animal Testing?, Cruelty Free International Review of cruelty Free Apps REFERENCES Anonymous. (2011). More Than a Makeup Trend. Retrieved from Link Background of the Issue - Animal Testing - ProCon.org. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from Link Hajar, R. (2011). Animal Testing and Medicine. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from Link Hosford, P. (n.d). Poll: Are you less likely to buy products that are tested on animals? Retrieved May 1, 2018, from Link Ulibarri, J. (2013). Ending Cosmetics Testing On Animals in the United States. Retrieved February 5-11, 2013, from Link W. (2018, March 12). Cruelty-Free Products for Every Price Point. Retrieved May 1, 2018, from Link Authors BioLexi Simonson is completing her freshman year of college at Minnesota State University, Mankato and will be transferring to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a study in Pre-Vet. She loves spending time with her dog Bella and her horse Bella. She volunteers within 4-H helping kids train their dog. She also participates in the horse, dog, cattle, llama, and sheep project. She has experience within this industry that helps her with the knowledge of what happens at a rodeo. Mariah J. Krzanowski is currently enrolled in her second semester at Minnesota State University Mankato; taking Selected Topics in Sociology Animals and Society as a writing intensive class. She has three companion dogs; a Great Dane, Boxer-Lab, and Bichon Shih Tzu. Mariah has an interest in non-human animals and wants to continue studying them to eventually become a Veterinarian.
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This is a website about nonhuman animals, written by human animals taking a Society and Animals class at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Archives
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