Every year, nearly
100 million animals die in research laboratories at the hands of curious scientists who perform inaccurate tests on animals.
Before these animals die, they are routinely burned, scalded, poisoned, starved, given electric shocks, addicted to drugs, subjected to near freezing temperatures, dosed with radioactive elements, driven insane, deliberately inflicted with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, oral infections, stomach ulcers, Syphilis, herpes, and
AIDS.
How can we agree that this form of experimentation is acceptable, if we would never agree to it being on human subject?
The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (
CAAT) is a small, non-profit center. As part of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, who are dedicated to improving health for both people and animals?
This organization is proof that there is alternative to the use of animal in our efforts to improve medical intervention of life threatening diseases. RF Halliwell, PhDUniversity of the Pacific have come up with a new method.
Neural Stem Cells may revolutionize the treatment of human disease and the discovery of new drugs. Stem cells might ultimately replace animal–derived tissues for scientific experiments. Stem cells are self-renewing with the capability of forming any cell type, tissue or organ in the body.
Stem cell-derived neurons (
SCNs) can now be grown in vitro allowing their properties to be studied but currently there is little data establishing their functional properties which is why some researchers still prefer animal testing.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec06/animal_10-04.htmlPractical arguments
Animal testing has helped to develop vaccines against diseases like rabies, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and
TB. Antibiotics,
HIV drugs, insulin and cancer treatments rely on animal tests. Other testing methods aren't advanced enough. Operations on animals helped to develop organ transplant and open-heart surgery techniques.
Moral arguments
Human life has greater intrinsic value than animal life. Legislation protects all lab animals from cruelty or mistreatment. Millions of animals are killed for food every year - if anything, medical research is a more worthy death.
I maybe bias in my beliefs because i am a animal lover but i would not wish any harm on any living thing for if i knew that there were alternative methods available. Think about the products that you buy because it not only medicine which animal testing is used but cosmetic and beauty products as well. How '
BAD' do you feel knowing that unnecessary harm was cause to animal in the effort to keep you beautiful.