Every time I open the door there he is, excited to greet me. He’s loving, happy, and full of joy. Who knew a dog could have such an impact on a person’s life? I certainly never imagined to have such love for an animal. Having the opportunity to have a pet changes your perspective completely. How could someone ever think to put an animal through such pain?
Each year more than 110 million animals are killed for animal testing alone, but only a small proportion of that comes out with research that is helpful and effective. The majority of those animals are forced to sit through harmful testing that often leads nowhere. Animals are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity lead experiments, and cosmetic testing.
Animals in experiments suffer from unnecessary pain and stress that goes against the initial plan of the experiment. Serious concerns about practices have occurred along with simple moral standpoints. Animals are burned, poisoned, starved, drowned, and some even experience brain damage. Could you ever even imagine your pet going through something like that? Animals are put through wrong and malicious testing, often without painkillers.
Animal testing is not a reliable scientific practice due to the state animals are in while the research is being conducted. The majority of staff don’t care that the animals are getting hurt as long as the data they need is being collected. What they have failed to mention to the public is that, much of the time, the data they collect is no longer reliable due to the state the animals are in. Millions of animals are put through testing, but the studies are hardly ever published because the data is not reliable. In addition, scientists can control the environment around the animal, which would be difficult to do with people.
Drug treatments used during animal testing fail to produce safe and effective medicine for humans. In fact, 92% of drugs and treatments that show promise during animal tests fail to successfully translate to safe and effective human medicines. Not only is this putting the animals through unnecessary harm, but it is also wasting money. The federal government spends $15 billion every year on research that involves animals. For instance, the money going towards animal testing can be used for researching effective and less harmful methods. It’s a waste of lives and a lost opportunity for better research.
Animal testing is cruel. To ensure we as a nation continue to move in the right direction clinically, it is important to develop new, more effective methods. Harm does not lead to benefits. Animal testing should not be used for the production of cosmetics or medical treatments.
