An important factor about this issue is that there is no law that states cosmetics should be tested on animals before they are released to the public, but there is a law, which was made in 1933 to protect humans from unsafe cosmetics. So it is up to the companies that produce cosmetic products whether they should test on animals or not. If they do they will have to face the protestors and if they don’t they will have to be extremely careful otherwise they could face being sued for products that damage human health.
Thinking about the matter more carefully I have realized that these animals are being tortured and going through immense suffering for human beauty. Do companies still need to test their products on animals? There are many alternative tests that have been invented, and even so, aren’t there enough beauty products out there at the moment? These big companies really need to ask themselves these questions, although they don’t seem to be bothered about putting animals through pain just to test their products, and we can’t even be sure if testing on animals is one hundred per cent efficient, humans may react differently to certain things than animals would.
Another issue that involves animal cruelty is hunting, in particular, fox hunting. Some types of hunting are not seen as harsh by many people, such as fishing, maybe because fish don’t make any noises when caught or seem too distressed, or maybe it’s because they are killed for humans to eat, so it helps mankind. Fox hunting is seen by many as extremely cruel, this is the view I take upon the matter. It does not help human society and is only for human pleasure, the power of killing an inferior being with packs of dogs and horses, which in a way is cowardly and evil.
Fox Hunting was brought up in The House of Commons last year, people were trying to get it banned, but the people didn’t really have much of a say in it in the end, the final decision was to have it legal, but with people needing licenses, so the same people are still hunting down foxes, but they have to pay to do it, which doesn’t change the situation at all, foxes are still exhausted and killed inhumanely. It definitely should be banned by all means necessary, it is ridiculous how a supposed civilized race can be cruel enough to hunt down and kill an innocent fox for pleasure. As you would expect there are many organizations that are against fox hunting and try their utmost hardest to ban all fox hunting.
Animal testing and fox hunting are obviously legal at the moment, and so no punishment can possibly be given to anybody who does these acts (except if you do them without the correct licensing) This annoys me because I feel that these acts of abuse upon animals should be banned, I do not see animals as equal with humans but they do have rights, especially the right to live.
The final type of animal abuse that is in the world today is general animal abuse, this could mean beating an animal to cause serious injury and/or death, to neglecting an animal for weeks or months. Some crimes are obviously not as serious as others, but I feel that they should all be punished in some way or another, which they are, but there are so many people who abuse animals and don’t get caught, we see on television all the time cases that the RSPCA have to deal with. We see highly graphical pictures of distressed animals in extreme states of health, and these are just for the public to see, imagine what other terrible scenes have to be viewed by RSPCA officers, and you can imagine the pain and suffering that some animals have to go through.
With myself owning two dogs I feel strongly about people who bring harm to animals, I would be distraught if I found out somebody had beaten up or neglected my pets, some people just don’t deserve the right to look after pets. I think that people should have to past some sort of test to be eligible to own a pet, especially something like a dog or cat. Anybody can walk into a shop and buy a small pet, and most people can go to a dog breeder or somewhere that is selling a litter and come away with one or more puppies, this isn’t right, obviously some places do check out the owners house, but even with things like that okay, doesn’t mean that the person would get fed up with his or her pet and start kicking and hitting it with things.
Penalties need to be harsher for people who abuse animals, animals have the right to a peaceful life, as do humans, we need to respect their needs and treat them with care.
Fox hunting should be banned, so should animal testing, there is no need for these animals to be abused as they are. Cosmetics are fine as they are, there isn’t even a law saying they need to be tested upon, and fox hunting is damn right insane, why on Earth do they need to be hunted down and killed, I realize it is a tradition, but it is one that we can well do without.
