Would violent psychopaths stand out more in a culture where animal cruelty wasn’t tolerated? From this list of violent criminals who tested on animals provided by PETA, it appears that animal testing can provide a convenient veil for violent psychopaths to hide behind. If these criminals didn’t get to wreak cruelty on animals in a legitimized setting, perhaps their latent cruelty and violence would be spotted earlier and checked.

Of course, most animal testers are not psychopaths. But society’s cognitive dissonance on morality – we preach kindness to humans and practice cruelty to each other and animals – is the reason why the violent can continue to blend in easily. Aggression, violence and cold disregard for life is the secret gospel that a mechanistic, capitalist society is preaching. And if psychopaths can get their start in animal testing with no questions asked, those without violent tendencies may be broken down by these norms, suffering a huge psychological cost. The psychological health of people working in industries that harm animals should be a huge concern as it breeds both trauma and violence. Neither of these effects – whether they lead to further violence or not – stop at the boundary of the individual. They go on to affect everyone close to the individual and the world around them. Animal testing and animal cruelty is a harm done to everyone – animals and human.