Dela Cerna, Robespierre M. BSN 4-C

The unreasonableness of animal testing

For every lucky dog or cat that has a comfortable home, nutritious food and loving guardians, countless dogs and cats are suffering at the hands of scientists who mutilate, beat and confine these animals in the name of science. The abuses that these animals suffer are sickening, heartbreaking and infuriating. What’s even more so when we realize that the everyday choices we make such as what we eat for lunch and the kind of shampoo we buy may be indirectly supporting some these abuse.

Animal Testing should be discontinued and these are my arguments. First, it is cruel. Despite the research reports on the negative effects of animal experimentation, approximately 100 million animals including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds are killed in U.S. laboratories alone. The thinking, feeling animals that are used in experiments are treated like nothing more than disposable laboratory equipment. It is morally wrong to treat creatures this way. They are brutally exterminated before being killed, some are forced to inhale toxic fumes; others are immobilized in restraint devices for hours. Some have holes drilled into their skulls, and others have their skin burned off or their spinal cords crushed. Before being tormented and experimented, animals in laboratories are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them they are confined to barren cages, socially isolated, and psychologically traumatized. This is not acceptable if we are to consider ourselves humans if we treat them inhumanely, we are no different from them if this sick practice continues. We are created to think differently

Second, it is illogical for scientists to use animals for research that is meant to benefit mainly humans. Animals are not like us given that there are obvious biological dissimilarities between humans and animals making it absolutely unreasonable to compare the animals’ results to human benefit. Medicines that are experimented on them are for the use of human consumption which causes severe effects on the animals, Morphine is supposed to calm human beings, but excites cats; penicillin can kill guinea pigs and hamsters; aspirin can poison cats and cause fetal deformities in rats. Digitalis is used by human with heart conditions but raises the blood pressure on dogs and cats. There is no reason to put animals to suffering by giving them harmful medicines, later to discover that those medicines are actually beneficial for humans.

And lastly, medical progress is being held back by misleading animal tests that do not apply to human structure. Research shows that scientists had been using rats for cancer research before it was reported in 1993 and the research is essentially pointless given that gene repair system of rats makes them unusually susceptible to cancer, this very obvious because there are significant differences in the way the genes of rats and humans are repaired.

Therefore, it is unacceptable to use animals as test subjects because it is cruel, a poor scientific practice, and a poorly regulated medical practice that the costs outweigh the benefits. The advances in the medical and research fields have vastly improved and it will outdate the use of animals in testing and will provide much more accurate outputs to the benefit of mankind. We should voice out our grievances to put an end to this cruelty altogether. Do we really want to continue this trend of brutality?

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, “Scientific Achievements Less Prominent than a Decade Ago,” news release, 9 July 2009.Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing; biology lessons; medical training; and curiosity-driven experimentation. Many people are surprised to learn that some cosmetics, personal care products, foods and beverages and household cleaning products are still tested on animals, or that their local university or hospital torment animals in cruel experiments.

Canadian Council on Animal Care, “Facts & Figures, CCAC Animal Use Survey, 2008,” 2010.It is said that an estimated 50,000 animals die due to the testing on them that Proctor and Gamble performs on them every year. “Secretly-filmed video evidence of P&G sponsored experiments at Huntingdon Life Sciences (a major multi-national contract animal testing company) shows the brutal treatment and killing of 48 monkeys.” (Murray-West, R, 2005) One other business that performed testing on animals was IAMS. I know, you wouldn’t think that a company that made food for your pet to keep them healthy would test on animals much like your pets. Some of the tests that IAMS performed were:28 female cats had their abdomens cut open and solution injected repeatedly into their bowels.24 young dogs were given kidney failure by the removal of one kidney and the damaging of the other. All the dogs were killed after being fed an experimental diet and their kidneys analyzed.18 young Great Danes were fed on differing diets and at eighteen months of age. Their bones from their front and back right legs were cut out and then stressed until they broke. Pigs were also used in similar experiments.

“Animal Welfare Act May Not Protect All Critters,” Associated Press, 7 May 2002.Less than 2% of human illnesses (1.16%) are ever seen in animals. Over 98% never are.At least 50 drugs on the market cause cancer in lab animals. They are allowed because it is admitted that animal tests are not relevant.When asked if they agreed that animal experimentation can be misleading because of anatomical and physiological differences between animals and humans, 88% of doctors agreed.Rats are only 37% effective in identifying what causes cancer in humans. Flipping a coin would be more accurate.According to animal tests lemon juice is deadly poison, but arsenic, hemlock and botulin are safe.Thousands of drugs passed safe in animals have been withdrawn or banned due to their effect on human health Aspirin fails animal tests, as does digitalis (heart drug), cancer treatments, insulin (causes animal birth defects), penicillin and other safe medicines. They would be banned if results from animal experimentation were accurate.

Daniel G. Hackam, M.D., and Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D., “Translation of Research Evidence From Animals to Human,” Journal of the American Medical Association 296 (2006): 1731-2.CANCER -Rats have been used in various cancer studies because certain strains can develop cancer spontaneously, as well as by viral and chemical induction.Researchers can study how genetics affect the immune system when cancer is promoted by a virus.Rats are used to study dietary components and environmental chemicals that may either prevent or cause cancers.PRODUCT SAFETY -Rats are the main subject in product safety tests. One is the repeated-dose chronic toxicity test, which is used to test a substance for effects of long-term exposure. Another is the developmental and reproductive toxicity test.