The use of rabbits as testing tools in identifying the side effects of beauty materials has become a common practice in the modern world. Rabbits are continuously adopted to test eye and skin beauty products. Their use is mostly viewed as beneficial in saving on cost contrary to the value of using humans as experimental objects. Despite the helpful nature of assuming this approach of product testing, there exist other moral controversies associated with rabbit-based makeup testing. These observations expose rabbits to certain untold physical, mental, and emotional torture throughout the test procedure. These concerns cannot be underemphasized as they provide the foundation of developing flawless procedures of carrying out animal-based product testing. With minimal public critics, testing of makeup products on rabbits will enhance the rate of fashion product discovery in the global market. As such, identifying the benefits and ethical concerns surrounding the adoption of rabbits in such a practice is key in considering an effective method of conducting aesthetic-based product testing.
The Benefits of Rabbit-based Makeup Testing on the Practicing Professionals
The use of rabbit experiments to approve beauty products is associated with certain benefits. It has enhanced the rate of fashion product discovery in the global market. With limited alternatives for conducting chemical testing, the use of rabbits in research experimentation provides a better method of verifying makeup products. The problem of testing small quantities of aesthetic products is no longer a major setback in the production of fashion-based items (Henrikus 10). A number of beauty items can, therefore, be easily verified for their safety and produced across the globe. Rabbits have provided a free test tool option contrary to adopting humans as test subjects. With the cheap rabbit resource, several products are continuously tested and produced to meet the level of demand for makeup items. The use of rabbit testing also eliminates the risk of exposing humans to the harmful effects of chemicals. On the contrary, these test procedures expose most scientists to certain moral concerns associated with their mental, physical, and emotional state of wellness.
The Moral Harm Associated with the Rabbit-based Makeup Testing
The use of rabbits to test the effects of body makeup harm the mental health of scientists. For example, several researchers who are emotionally attached to pets consider animal model experimentation as retrogressive to the natural habitation stating that “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (Gabriel et al. 379). Coaxing these scientists to test these chemicals on rabbits, therefore, exposes them to mental discomfort. These medical practitioners often refrain from such examinations terming them mentally disturbing (Croney 234). In other cases, the practicing researchers often develop emotional stress and anxiety associated with the torture that rabbits are exposed to during any scientific experiment. These professionals also undergo a physically straining process of securing and quarantining rabbits for several days before subjecting them to research tests. At times, they are also susceptible to harmful chemicals during the experimental procedures. Adopting rabbits as major makeup test animals, however, presents certain moral issues.
The Moral Harm Associated with Rabbit-based Makeup Testing
The use of animals in testing associated with aesthetic products exposes rabbits to mental pain and suffering. These animals display an array of mental problems including loss of appetite leading to weight loss, tremor, aggression, and vocalization (Gabriel et al. 855). For instance, rabbits are subjected to an unfriendly environment exposing them to contagious diseases “… constant contact with manure increases the risk of coccidiosis” (Prajapati et al. 7). In the quarantine houses, rabbits are more subjected to sensory overload emanating from the artificial lights, extreme cases of noisy industrial environments, and loud music pain. Many scientists have complained of unnecessary application of harmful chemicals on animals, “I am very concerned about pain and suffering in animals” (Kang et al. 77). The human practices when conducting makeup tests on animals, therefore, harm them. Despite these harmful effects of using rabbits as test animals in the screening of beauty products, experimenting chemicals on rabbits attracts certain health and adaptation benefits to the population of these animals.
The Benefits of Rabbit-based Makeup Testing on the Non-human Rabbit Population
The research environments characterized with house quarantine may subject rabbits to a new friendly environment under the human care as opposed to the natural habitation. The animals are vaccinated, provided shelter, food, and water as their basic requirements. These rabbits can, therefore, adapt well in such conditions and become healthier than in their previous location. Keeping rabbits within the cage also ensures their independence from other animals. As such, they are protected from other predators and are safe within the laboratory environments. The beauty product examination procedures also require a large population of rabbit encouraging artificial breeding to increase their population. Finally, within the health facilities, the researchers often conduct lifespan analysis of the research-based rabbits. The findings are mostly used to estimate the general lifecycle of the rabbit population. These data, therefore, guarantees humans’ intervention on the generation of rabbits. As such, the rabbit-based makeup tests provide a number of health, protection, and adaption benefits to those animals within the research cages as well as their entire generation.
Identifying the benefits and ethical concerns surrounding the adoption of rabbits in testing beauty products is key in recommending an effective method of performing an aesthetic-based product testing. The experimental procedure attracts major ethical issues concerning the physical, mental, and emotional effects of rabbit testing of chemicals. The approach, for instance, subjects rabbits to poor environmental conditions, deteriorated health as well as mental discomfort of inhumane experimental procedures. The tests expose rabbits to unnecessary body torture with the application of harmful chemicals to ascertain their effects on animals. Securing and quarantining rabbits for several days before conducting research experiments is isolative and exposes them to loneliness. The practicing professionals on the other hand are exposed to mentally disturbing situations. The pain inflicted on rabbits are at times painful for the researchers to accommodate exposing them to be depress. As such, these issues contrast the major benefits of conducting rabbit-based product tests to protect the human life from harmful effects of chemicals thereby raising moral concerns.
Works Cited
Croney, Candace C. “Turning up the Volume on Man’s Best Friend: Ethical Issues Associated with Commercial Dog Breeding.” Journal of Applied Animal Ethics Research, vol.1, no. 2, 2019, pp. 230-252.
Gabriel, Liguori R., et al. “Ethical Issues in the Use of Animal Models for Tissue Engineering: Reflections on Legal Aspects, Moral Theory, Three Rs Strategies, and Harm–Benefit Analysis.” Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods, vol. 23, no. 12, 2017, pp. 850-862.
Henrikus, B. and Eisenmenger W. “Ethical Issues in Science; Focus on Regulatory Toxicology.” Regulatory Toxicology, edited by Franz-Xaver Reichl and Michael Schwenk, Springer, 2021, pp. 1-11.
Kang, Minji, et al. “Mental Stress from Animal Experiments: a Survey with Korean Researchers.” Toxicological Research, vol. 34, no. 1, 2018, pp. 75-81.
Prajapati, Rajendra Kumar, et al. “Effect of Different Housing Systems on Growth Performance, Feed Consumption, Morbidity and Mortality of Broiler Rabbits.” International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, 2019, pp. 2115-2121.