Animal Testing
Each year in the United States, an estimated seventy million animals are hurt and killed in the name of science by private institutions, household products and cosmetics companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and scientific centers. Animal testing is wrong and downright mean. Innocent animals should not be treated badly and caused pain for the sake of a human 's safety. Many people think animal testing is good while others think it is wrong. I think it is completely and absolutely wrong. Some people argue that humans are not necessarily superior to animals, so why should animals be experimented on and made to suffer to protect human beings? Do you know what animal testing is, what condition the animals live in, and what some alternatives to testing animals are? The term "animal testing" refers to procedures performed on living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and diseases, assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products, and testing the human health and/or environmental safety of consumer and industry products such as cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, pharmaceuticals and industrial/agro-chemicals. All procedures, even those classified as “mild,” have the potential to cause the animals physical as well as psychological distress and suffering. Often the procedures can cause a great deal of suffering. Most animals are killed at the end of an experiment, but some may be re-used in subsequent experiments. Here is a selection of common animal procedures:
• Forced chemical exposure in toxicity testing, which can include oral force-feeding, forced inhalation, skin or injection into the abdomen, muscle, etc.
• Exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death
• Genetic manipulation, e.g., addition or “knocking out” of one or more genes
• Ear-notching and tail-clipping for identification
• Short periods of physical restraint for observation or
• Forced chemical exposure in toxicity testing, which can include oral force-feeding, forced inhalation, skin or injection into the abdomen, muscle, etc.
• Exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death
• Genetic manipulation, e.g., addition or “knocking out” of one or more genes
• Ear-notching and tail-clipping for identification
• Short periods of physical restraint for observation or
References: Canadian Council of Animal Care http://ccac.ca/en_/publications/audf/stats-aud/tablei/2009 Animal Testing Statistics http://www.statisticbrain.com/animal-testing-statistics/ http://www.peta.org/