Product Testing  AV magazine issue 2, 2010 2010 Issue #2
Consumer Power for Animals Product Testing: Beginning to an End?
Crystal Schaeffer MA ED., MA IPCR, is the Outreach Director for
AAVS.  Most of us have a nightly routine before we go to bed. We
may brush our teeth, for example, and not give this task a
second thought. We close our eyes, fall asleep, and dream,
thinking nothing of the nightmare that any number of animals
might have endured to enhance our lives.  IT IS AN UNFORTUNATE
REALITY: animals, including rabbits and guinea pigs, who are the
same as our pets at home in nearly every way except for their
circumstances, still suffer needlessly in the production of
personal care and household products. Their use in testing the
safety of products like toothpaste, dish soap, and floor cleaner
is based in part on an outdated theory that animal responses in
a lab will accurately predict what will happen when humans are
exposed to the same substances. However, this is a flawed model
because physiology varie