Save Ralph: The Secrets to Animal Testing

By Bethel Tessera

Edited by Eva Ternovska

“Save Ralph”, a documentary about a lab rabbit, has gone viral on TikTok over the past couple of months. Ralph, the lab rabbit, is one of the thousands of animals that the government uses to test chemical poisoning for cosmetic purposes. Many people associate animal testing with applying make-up to animals to test its safety. Undoubtedly, most people still find this act inhumane but applying questionable foundation to monkeys is only the tip of the iceberg. “Save Ralph” features a behind-the-scenes look at animal testing including some methods that most haven’t even heard about. This eye-opening documentary is educational and well needed to be produced.

Whenever people on TikTok see other people using makeup brands that use animal testing, the comments are filled with “Save Ralph ”. It’s similar to videos that showcase animal abuse. The movement brought to light a topic that’s talked about often but not examined in depth

Ralph has skin irritation, is blind in one eye, and has a constant buzzing in one of his ears- all caused by animal testing. Being the innocent rabbit that he is, he tries to assure the viewer that all is worth it because he’s providing safe shampoo for humans. 

Watching save Ralph intrigued me to learn more about how animal testing is done. I learned that it’s much more gruesome than I originally thought.  The unimaginable methods that animals are used for testing include but are not exclusive to inhaling of toxic fumes, drugging and burning. According to Peta, each year, over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year. 100 million animals is unfathomable to think about, and it’s outright just sad that the U.S. government has been allowing this. Many people don’t have remorse for animals, but what if that was 100 million humans we were talking about? That would for sure cause outrage, but why isn’t this? Humans and animals are more similar than people think. We eat, breathe, eat like one another, so why should animals continue to be burned and poisoned? We wouldn’t allow this to happen to a human, would we?

Thankfully, through our progressive generation, there has been more and more outreach and rage over animal testing. As well as more popular brands that are vegan and cruelty-free, such as Pacifica and Arbonne. If we keep moving forward with what we’re doing right now, we can reduce or even eliminate animal testing and cruelty

Citation: 

PETA. “Animal Testing Facts and Statistics.” PETA, PETA, 19 May 2021, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/.