Over the years has gone through many revolutions and changes. As early as the 1980s, leading cosmetic companies were still heavily involved in all sorts of animal research that supposedly was necessary to prove the safety of their cosmetics, from foundations to eye creams.
Organizations sprang up in defense of what was considered totally needless pain and suffering of animals and these companies were almost forced into finding other methods of research to test the safety of their products to make them ready for humans. Pictures of mutilated and blinded little bunny rabbits circulated mainstream media as shocked citizens rallied to their defense. It was ultimately decided that this type of maiming under the guise of product safety testing was needless to say the least.
As late as the 70s, it was an acceptable belief by many that animals were just “animals”, and they deserved no special care or understanding. Some labs didn’t even use anesthesia while performing tests or surgeries on these creatures; they believed in vivisection. Animals, in the name of science, were forced to undergo horrendous procedures without even the benefit of a local anesthetic. If they survived the procedure, they were simply put back in a cage to wait for whatever else was in store for them.
