They should stop testing cosmetics on innocent animals and instead use criminals.That's one way they could repay their debt to society,besides,some of them would be thrilled!

Animal Testing is* controversial in general, but I'm dead-set against using animals for testing something so useless as cosmetics. We're torturing animals for the sole purpose of appeasing our vanity? I can't think of a good reason why animal testing for cosmetics would be useful. (*edited for spelling)

It was Rene Descartes who first expounded the theory that an animal was an automaton, lacking in consciousness, sensation and self awareness. The cries of an animal in pain, according to Descartes, was akin to the noise of machinery. This thinking was the philosophical foundation for animal experimentation. Now, few people believe that the Cartesian view of animals holds much water. However, the wheels that were set in motion are still turning. Proponents of animal experimentation nowadays have to go further in their defense of animal experimentation, and point to the great medical advancements that they believe can and have been made through the use of animals, and then, on an ethical front, balance this with the unfortunate suffering of the animals involved, arguing that it is all for the greater good. However, animal testing for cosmetics? It is a stretch to put this side by side with cancer research as a valid reason to take an animal's life in an agonizing way. Even if you contend that the human need for luxury items trumps the most basic rights one might afford to a vertebrate, there still remains the fact that there is a huge selection of cosmetic products available that are brought to market without animal experimentation. Update to genghis: True, everyone uses these products, but they do not need to be tested on animals prior to use. As I mentioned before, there is a wide range of cosmetics available that are not tested on animals. People who are uncomfortable about animal testing may well start buying goods that are not tested on animals. Losing business is a great incentive for companies to change their testing policies, in fact it trumps any moral or ethical argument you can make to a company.

Horrible practive, done in the name of vanity only. For medical purposes I can understand, if not support, the use of animals. For cosmetics....never. No person anywhere has such a need to look better than they do that it's worth the life of an innocent and helpless animal, and I do not care whether they have feelings or souls or anything else. Killing something to make you look better, whether you did it yourself or by proxy (that is, by buying from companies that do) makes you at best an inconsiderate, and at worst a soulless person. I'm sure there's a special place in hell for this one.

One of those things you can't turn the other cheek against. Without sounding sociopathic, could you imagine if these poor animals got their revenge and committed the kinds of experimentation on us, as we have on them? I'm up for a street fight with the bitches who nonchalantly wear fur, and animal-tested cosmetics. A fist fight!

I wholeheartedly agree with each and every comment on this one. It blows my mind to think that someone actually has this job, and goes to it daily. This practice should have long ago become obsolete. We know most substances and elements inside and out, and we know how and with what they react, and we can pretty precisely predict whether or not it is safe for human skin/eyes/etc. So why still test it? And if you have a doubt about the safety of a product, don't test it, throw it out!!!

Pain and suffering in the name of vanity. Vile. When you realize that the animals themselves are incapable of sinking this low it actually makes you question validity of the the term superior species.

I always knew there was something about Descartes that I did not like, anyone who thinks he is merely on the premise that he has a snippet of a thought in his overblown head. The awful photo of the rabbits held down together depicting this topic is all so true and still happens frequently. I remember even years ago reading stories of how these albino bunnies were given drops in their eyes of foreign substances over a period of several days as their eyes became swollen and red with irritation. Many became blind while writhing in pain. This is despicable and an unnecessary practice. Although I rarely wear makeup when I do I use a product from a known company that does not resort to testing on animals. Other than in the UK, there are few laws out there that have stopped this deplorable practice.