Animal Testing — A Medieval Practice in a Contemporary World
A lot of people begin their opinion articles with either personal stories, current events, or quotations. This one, I feel like should begin with numbers.
More than 110 million animals are killed every year after being tested on in laboratories across The United States. According to PETA, animals such as mice, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even monkeys are killed unethically every day for painful biology lessons, experiments, and testing of chemicals, drugs, and cosmetics. Some might not think that animals should be treated with respect and compassion. Others are aware of the harms of testing but prefer to disregard them. Only 45 out of 195 countries have passed laws banning cosmetic animal testing. This is not only an opinion article. This is a call for change. Here is why:
Have you ever thought about how can you describe the word “ethical”? We have all heard of human rights — quite a hot topic recently. Those rights are covered in various international treaties and agreements and have become a staple of what “ethical” means. The topic of animal rights, however, is controversial and depends mainly on a person’s own moral and ethical standards. The Human League defines animal rights as moral principles based on the conviction that non-human animals deserve the freedom to live their lives without being subjected to human demands.
PETA reports that prior to their death, animals in laboratories are forced to live in tight cages, inhale toxic substances, and get their skin burned. While being tested on, animals are deprived of their right to live free from pain and suffering in their natural conditions, to fulfill their basic needs, and engage in their natural behaviours. Animals used in testing are subjected to invasive and painful procedures without their understanding which is a violation of multiple animal rights. Depends on what the word “ethical” means for you, of course.
“So what,” you might say. Still, the benefits to human health outweigh the costs or harms to animals. If your moral compass guided you to this section of the article, or you are still undecided about how you feel about the topic, I have prepared some facts for you:
Number one is that most animal tests fail. This means that most of the time, animals die for…. no actual reason.
Number two is that sciences and technologies have advanced to the point that experiments as well as testing of drugs and cosmetics can be done without causing pain to an animal. Is this surprising?
Animal testing is actually an expensive and lengthy process which can slow down scientific progress and delay the development of new drugs and products. Drugs tested on animals can be even dangerous for humans because they do not respond to medications and cosmetics in the same way that humans do because of differences in metabolism, genetics, and disease progression.
According to the National Anti-Vivisection Society, approximately 90% of the drugs tested are not suitable for humans. 60% of the medications fail in human clinical trials after showing promise in preclinical animal models. Moreover, 30% of them end up being toxic to people. An article by PETA features a saying by former National Cancer Institute Director Dr. Richard Klausner: “We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t work in humans.”
So how are we going to develop functional medicine if we don’t test on animals? Scientists have developed effective ethical alternatives to animal testing. Cruelty Free International introduced some of the most popular ones:
Organs-on-chips — miniature machines made from human cells to investigate disease processes. They are frequently employed in chemical safety testing, vaccine manufacture, and drug discovery, and have played a significant role in examining conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, and AIDS. Researchers have also developed computer models to replicate human organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, and many more. They can be used for conducting virtual experiments. Human tissues are another relevant method of researching human biology and illness. It can be achieved by using healthy and diseased tissues supplied by human donors.
Disposable resources or living beings? I recommend you think about this the next time you pick up your can of beauty at the drugstore.
Margarita Arsova is a Journalism and Mass Communication student at the American University in Bulgaria. She is an animal rights advocate.
