Although many of the procedures these animals must endure are not standardized, several have become notoriously well known, both for their cruelty and their widespread usage.  In 1998, over two million animal experiments took place in Great Britain, sixty-five percent of these using no anesthetic.

The Draize Test:

      Developed by John Draize, a FDA scientist, the Draize eye test measures the harmfulness of chemicals found in household products and cosmetics.   Solutions are dripped or rubbed directly into the victim's eye, while the eye is forcibly held open, sometimes with metal clips.  The overall effect is observed and dutifully recorded.  The rabbits themselves often suffer horrible pain, ulcerations, and possibly even blindness.  The test periods usually last in between three to twenty-one days, at the end of which the animal is exterminated.
 

LD50%:

     LD50% stands for Lethal Dose, 50%.  This test is used to determine the toxicity of a certain substance.  The animals, used in large groups like the restrained rabbits at left, are force-fed measured amounts of a substance until half (50%) of the subject animals are dead.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Other Tests:

     This monkey, named "Britches" by the Animal Liberation Front, a corporation who later rescued her, had her eyes sewn shut at birth so scientists could study the reaction of an animal, blind from birth, suddenly being given sight during a later point in her life.  This experiment had no medical value whatsoever other than to satisfy the curiosity of the scientists themselves.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

      In tests for skin irritancy, animals are shaved and chemicals are rubbed into their raw and abraded skin.  They are restrained, like the rabbits shown above, or caged, as is the beagle at left, so they cannot escape the pain, as they are given no anesthetic.  Many animals die trying to escape their restraints.