Animal Testing: A QuacK Science

by Jasmine De La Torre

Every year 115,000,000 animals are tested on and many of them die from mistreatment and malnourishment. Many more die from the cruel experiments and surgeries they are subjected to. Animals do not have a say in whether or not they want to be experimented on and this is why animals are often used in animal testing, even though the animals have never harmed us.
An animal’s body is different than humans, so any tests on animals are not credible and any human who uses the product or the drug becomes a human guinea pig. Research animals are subject to inhumane experiments and surgeries, such as baby monkeys put in isolation chambers and pumping chemicals into rat’s stomachs. Most of these tests have been repeated for years with the same results, and the companies continue to use animals in their research. The government funds for this research, even though it is not reliable. Why do these tests still continue even if they are not reliable and barbaric? It is because many people still believe that it is okay to kill one being for the “good” of the whole. It is this kind of thinking that leads us to war and genocide.
There are many alternatives to animal testing. Pharmagene Laboratories in Royston, England does not use any animals for their research, because they understand how misleading it can be. Instead they research on human tissues and cadavers with sophisticated computer technology. This is a lot more reliable, because they can observe how a drug affects a human body instead of how a drug affects a rat’s body. Another alternative to animal testing is to use comparative studies of human populations to find out the root cause of diseases and prevent it from spreading.

In conclusion, if we all did our part we can help end animal testing. You can do so much to help stop animal testing, for one you can boycott animal tested products and cosmetics and refuse to fund charities that support animal research. And you can write to companies that test on animals and tell them why you do not support their testing on animals.