By: Mackenzie Killenbec
Did you know that every year more than 100 million animals are killed in laboratories for cosmetics, food, drugs, medical training and even curiosity-driven experiments? Animals that are included in the experiments are mice, dogs, cats, rabbits and many others. Animals should not be used for scientific or commercial testing.
It is Very Cruel, Humane and There Are Other Testing Methods-
Using animals for scientific or commercial testing is very cruel and inhumane. Also there are other testing methods now and animals can feel pain and fear just like humans. The USDA reported that in 2010 97,123 animals suffered pain during experiments. Also during the Draize eye test, which is used by cosmetics companies, is an irritation test for shampoos and other products. They held rabbit’s eyelids open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they could not blink away the product. Animals used in experiments are commonly force fed, forced inhalation, food and water deprivation and burnt or wounded to study the healing process. According to Humane Society International they are, “killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means,” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). There is this glass testing, like studying cell cultures in petri dishes, which has better results than animal testing because they can use human cells. Also there is Microfluidic chips, which are lined with human cells and recreate human organs. Computer models like virtual reconstructions of human molecular structures, can predict the toxicity without animals. Using animals for testing is not right because it’s cruel and there are other testing methods now.
Animals are Poor Test Subjects and Animal Tests are really Expensive-
Animals are different from humans so they are poor test subjects and animal tests are more expensive than other experiments. Humans and animals do not always react in the same way to a drug. That is why some medicines do not make it to the market. Even though they passed the animals test they did not pass the human trials. Aysha Akhtar, a neurologist, said “over 100 stroke drugs that were effective when tested on animals have failed in humans…” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). The anatomic, metabolic and cellular differences make animals bad test subjects. About 94% of drugs that pass the animal test have failed in human clinical trials. According to Paul Furlong, Professor of CNAU, “it is very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we are trying to achieve in the human,” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). An animal test costed $32,000 and the in glass experiments average cost is $11,000. Also a “rat photo toxicity test” costs $11,500 whereas the non-animal experiment costs $1,300. The US National Institutes of Health spent $14 billion of its $31 billion budget on animals. Animal tests are really expensive and animals are really different from humans so they are bad test subjects.
As you can see, animals should not be used for scientific or commercial testing. It is cruel, there are other testing methods and animals are different from humans so they make poor test subjects.
Citations: http://animal-testing.procon.org/ http://www.yourgenome.org/debates/should-animals-be-used-in-research
Did you know that every year more than 100 million animals are killed in laboratories for cosmetics, food, drugs, medical training and even curiosity-driven experiments? Animals that are included in the experiments are mice, dogs, cats, rabbits and many others. Animals should not be used for scientific or commercial testing.
It is Very Cruel, Humane and There Are Other Testing Methods-
Using animals for scientific or commercial testing is very cruel and inhumane. Also there are other testing methods now and animals can feel pain and fear just like humans. The USDA reported that in 2010 97,123 animals suffered pain during experiments. Also during the Draize eye test, which is used by cosmetics companies, is an irritation test for shampoos and other products. They held rabbit’s eyelids open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they could not blink away the product. Animals used in experiments are commonly force fed, forced inhalation, food and water deprivation and burnt or wounded to study the healing process. According to Humane Society International they are, “killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means,” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). There is this glass testing, like studying cell cultures in petri dishes, which has better results than animal testing because they can use human cells. Also there is Microfluidic chips, which are lined with human cells and recreate human organs. Computer models like virtual reconstructions of human molecular structures, can predict the toxicity without animals. Using animals for testing is not right because it’s cruel and there are other testing methods now.
Animals are Poor Test Subjects and Animal Tests are really Expensive-
Animals are different from humans so they are poor test subjects and animal tests are more expensive than other experiments. Humans and animals do not always react in the same way to a drug. That is why some medicines do not make it to the market. Even though they passed the animals test they did not pass the human trials. Aysha Akhtar, a neurologist, said “over 100 stroke drugs that were effective when tested on animals have failed in humans…” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). The anatomic, metabolic and cellular differences make animals bad test subjects. About 94% of drugs that pass the animal test have failed in human clinical trials. According to Paul Furlong, Professor of CNAU, “it is very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we are trying to achieve in the human,” (animals-testing.procon.org, 2016). An animal test costed $32,000 and the in glass experiments average cost is $11,000. Also a “rat photo toxicity test” costs $11,500 whereas the non-animal experiment costs $1,300. The US National Institutes of Health spent $14 billion of its $31 billion budget on animals. Animal tests are really expensive and animals are really different from humans so they are bad test subjects.
As you can see, animals should not be used for scientific or commercial testing. It is cruel, there are other testing methods and animals are different from humans so they make poor test subjects.
Citations: http://animal-testing.procon.org/ http://www.yourgenome.org/debates/should-animals-be-used-in-research