what do you guys think about animal experementation?

Question

do you support it? do you despise it? what? im wondering because im doing a speech on it and i need help with the facts and statistics of animal experemintation so will you guys help

Answer 1

I'd love to help!!! I'm a junor activist in the making!!!

Animal testing is way wrong. More animals die a year from labs, than being hunted(cat v.s dog, rooster fighting...)

Campaigns and Investigations

Meet Augustus Augustus was one of the 17 macaque “Silver Spring monkeys,” most of whom were taken from their jungle homes in the late 1970s and purchased for $200 each by animal experimenter Edward Taub for testing purposes. After PETA exposed the extreme cruelty and neglect that Augustus and the others were suffering in Taub’s hands, the police raided the Institute for Behavioral Research laboratory, and Taub became the first experimenter to be convicted of cruelty to animals.
PETA: Making a Difference
Since its inception in 1980, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has worked to end animal testing and experimentation and has brought together members of the scientific, judicial, legislative, and public communities to stop abusive practices in labs. These cases, aided by investigative work, consumer boycotts, and international media coverage, have stopped cruel and unnecessary practices and prevented the deaths of millions of animals.

Victories for Animals
PETA has been responsible for breakthroughs such as shutting down a military laboratory in which animals were shot and ending the use of cats and dogs in all wound laboratories in the U.S.

PETA has also played a major role in these ground-breaking efforts:

• In 1981, PETA launched the precedent-setting “Silver Spring monkeys” case, resulting in the first arrest and criminal conviction of an animal experimenter in the United States on charges of cruelty to animals, the first confiscation of abused animals from a laboratory, and the first U.S. Supreme Court victory for animals in laboratories.
• In response to a PETA campaign, General Motors Corporation ended its crash tests on animals.
• PETA’s undercover investigation of painful scabies experiments on dogs and rabbits at Ohio’s Wright State University led to charges of 18 violations of the Animal Welfare Act and the termination of the experiments.
• After exposing the National Air and Space Administration’s Bion experiment, in which straitjacketed monkeys were to be launched into space implanted with electrodes, PETA succeeded in stopping the project.
• PETA’s undercover investigation of Boys Town National Research Hospital’s experiments, in which kittens’ heads were cut into and cats were starved, spurred the National Institutes of Health to issue a report condemning Boys Town’s animal care and use program. The USDA found that Boys Town had failed to comply with the Animal Welfare Act.

(Click here for more victories for animals.)

With a Little Help From Our Friends
PETA works closely with many companies and organizations to ensure that their products are made without causing harm to animals. Our undercover investigation of a large contract testing laboratory in Philadelphia and our subsequent campaign led to Benetton’s permanent ban on animal tests—the first major cosmetics company to do so. Other leading companies, such as Avon, Revlon, and Estée Lauder, followed suit. Gillette also announced a moratorium on animal tests after PETA’s 10-year campaign. PETA now lists hundreds of companies that do not test on animals. Because the Food and Drug Administration does not require animal testing for beauty products, PETA continues to put pressure on other cosmetics and personal-care product companies to go cruelty-free.

Alternatives: Testing Without Torture

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Besides saving countless animal lives, alternatives to animal tests are efficient and reliable. Unlike crude, archaic animal tests, non-animal methods usually take less time to complete, cost only a fraction of what the animal experiments they replace cost, and are not plagued with species differences that make extrapolation difficult or impossible. Effective, affordable, and humane research methods include studies of human populations, volunteers, and patients, as well as sophisticated in vitro, genomic, and computer-modeling techniques.

Forward-thinking companies are exploring modern alternatives. For example, Pharmagene Laboratories, based in Royston, England, is the first company to use only human tissues and sophisticated computer technologies in the process of drug development and testing. With tools from molecular biology, biochemistry, and analytical pharmacology, Pharmagene conducts extensive studies of human genes and how drugs affect those genes or the proteins they make. While some companies have used animal tissues for this purpose, Pharmagene scientists believe that the discovery process is much more efficient with human tissues. “If you have information on human genes, what’s the point of going back to animals?” says Pharmagene cofounder Gordon Baxter.(1)

Alternatives for Research
Comparative studies of human populations allow doctors and scientists to discover the root causes of human diseases and disorders so that preventive action can be taken. Epidemiological studies led to the discoveries of the relationship between smoking and cancer and to the identification of heart disease risk factors.(2) Population studies also demonstrated the mechanism of the transmission of AIDS and other infectious diseases and also showed how these diseases can be prevented.(3)

In the course of treating patients, much has been learned about the causes of diseases and disorders. Studies of human patients using sophisticated scanning technology (e.g., MRI, PET, and CT) have isolated abnormalities in the brains of patients with schizophrenia and other disorders.(4)

Cell and tissue culture (in vitro) studies are used to screen for anti-cancer, anti-AIDS, and other types of drugs, and they are also a means of producing and testing a number of other pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, antibiotics, and therapeutic proteins. The U.S. National Disease Research Interchange provides more than 120 types of human tissue to scientists investigating diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, glaucoma, and other human diseases.(5) In vitro genetic research has isolated specific markers, genes, and proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, muscular dystrophy, schizophrenia, and other inherited diseases.

Those who experiment on animals artificially induce disease; clinical investigators study people who are already ill or who have died. Animal experimenters want a disposable “research subject” who can be manipulated as desired and killed when convenient; clinicians must do no harm to their patients or study participants. Animal experimenters face the unavoidable fact that their artificially created “animal model” can never fully reflect the human condition, whereas clinical investigators know that the results of their work are directly relevant to people.


Alternatives for Testing
Alternatives to the use of animals in toxicity testing include replacing animal tests with non-animal methods, as well as modifying animal-based tests to reduce the number of animals used and to minimize pain and distress. Non-animal tests are generally faster and less expensive than the animal tests they replace and improve upon.

To date, several non-animal test methods have been formally validated and accepted by some countries as replacements for an existing animal test. Examples include:

• An embryonic stem cell test, using mouse-derived cells to assess potential toxicity to developing embryos, has been validated as a partial replacement for birth-defect testing in rats and rabbits.(6)
• The 3T3 Neutral Red Uptake Phototoxicity Test, which uses cells grown in culture to assess the potential for sunlight-induced (“photo”) irritation to the skin.
• Human skin model tests such as the validated EpiDerm™ test, which has been accepted almost universally as a total replacement for skin corrosion studies in rabbits.(7)
• The use of human skin leftover from surgical procedures or donated cadavers can be used to measure the rate at which a chemical is able to penetrate the skin.
• The use of a clinical patch test in human volunteers, which can confirm that a chemical will not cause irritation or allergic skin reactions.(8)

For more detailed information about non-animal test methods that are available or under development, visit ECVAM.jrc.it and StopAnimalTests.com.


Alternatives for Education
The majority of medical schools in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, have replaced their use of live animals in physiology, pharmacology, and/or surgical-training exercises with humane and effective non-animal teaching methods, including observation of actual human cardiac bypass surgery, patient simulators, cadavers, sophisticated computer programs, and more.

In addition to being more humane, non-animal teaching tools such as computer simulations, multimedia CD-ROMs, and models are also more economical than traditional animal-based teaching exercises.(9) Whereas the “traditional” approach involves the acquisition and disposal of animals on an ongoing basis, purchasing a set of CD-ROMs represents a one-time expenditure for a product that can be used repeatedly for many years. Schools can save tens of thousands of dollars each year by implementing re-usable replacements for animal “specimens.”

Studies have shown that non-animal teaching methods are as effective as older, less humane methods. For example:

• A study of first-year biology undergraduates found that examination results of those students who used model rats were equivalent to those who had performed rat dissections.(10)

• A similar study examined a class of first-year biology students, half of whom used traditional “hands-on” laboratories while the remainder used computer software. Biology knowledge of the computer-taught students increased significantly more than did that of the traditional group.(11)

Several Web sites provide descriptions, prices, and ordering information for thousands of alternative learning materials. Following are two excellent databases that focus specifically on alternatives in education:

• The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights


• Norwegian Inventory of Audiovisuals (NORINA)


The following animal protection organizations have established “alternatives loan” programs for students who need to borrow a non-animal software program or other teaching tool in order to satisfy a course requirement without having to bear the financial burden of purchasing the product:

• Ethical Science Education Coalition
617-367-9143


• National Anti-Vivisection Society
1-800-888-NAVS

What You Can Do
Virtually all federally funded research is paid for with your tax dollars. Two of the main funders of animal-based research in North America, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, need to hear that you don’t want your tax dollars used to underwrite animal experiments, whatever their purpose.

Write to the heads of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, National Toxicology Program, and Health Canada and urge them to stop requiring cruel and obsolete animal tests for pharmaceuticals and allow companies to substitute in vitro tests.

Whether you are a student, a parent, or a concerned taxpayer, you can act to end the use of animals in your city’s education system. If you are expected to perform or observe a dissection, talk to your teacher as early as possible about alternative projects. Call the Dissection Hotline at 1-800-922-FROG (3764) for tips on what to say and how to proceed. If there is an animal rights group at your school or in your community, ask them to help. Parents can urge their local Parent-Teacher Association to ask the area superintendent of schools or school board to consider a proposal to ban animal-based teaching exercises in public schools or at least give all students the option of doing a non-animal project. It may help to collect signatures on a petition and to present the school board with information on the cruelty of animal-based teaching exercises and on readily available alternatives.

If you own stock in a company that conducts animal tests, introduce a shareholder resolution opposing the use of animals.

Visit www.StopAnimalTests.com to view current action alerts and learn more about how you can help put an end to the harmful use of animals in education.


References
1) “Pioneers Cut Out Animal Experiments,” New Scientist, 31 Aug. 1996.
2) Christopher Anderegg et al., “A Critical Look at Animal Experimentation,” Medical Research Modernization Committee, 2002.
3) Samuel Baron, M.D. et al., Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., University of Texas: Churchill Livingstone Inc, 1996.
4) Kelvin O. Lim et al., “In Vivo Structural Brain Assessment,” The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2000.
5) National Resource Center, “Human Tissue Lists,” National Disease Research Exchange, last accessed 5 Nov. 2004.
6) Michael Balls, “The Use of Scientifically-Validated In Vitro Tests for Embryotoxicity,” European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, 3 Jun. 2002.



Hope ya get a 100%!
7) Michael Balls, “Statement on the Application of the Epiderm™ Human Skin Model For Skin Corrosivity Testing,” European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, 21 Mar. 2000.
8) Government of Canada, “Guidelines for the Notification of New Substances: Chemicals and Polymers,” Aug. 2001.
9) Jonothan Balcombe, Ph.D., The Use of Animals in Higher Education. Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations, Washington, D.C.: Humane Society Press, 2000.
10) Balcombe.
11) Balcombe.

Answer 2

I think if certain laws were followed regarding how animals were treated while undergoing certain tests, some things could be tested on animals. If it is going to end up in a drug being put on the market that can save peoples lives, then by all means, test it. Just don't put the animals through torture. I have written several papers and given several speeches on the subject. I am very against animal testing as it is today. There need to be more laws to protect the animals and their welfare. Personally, my solution is to take criminals; people who have relinquished their rights due to their actions, and test on them. It has been proven that by testing vaccines on animals, it doesn't show that they are safe for humans. Why not go right to the source then. Test them on people from the beginning. That is a whole other thing though. As far as testing makeup, perfumes, hair dye, etc there is absolutely no reason for testing on animals. It isn't doing anything to better humanity. It just shows that humans are greedy and evil overall.

Answer 3

I say no. People are animals too no matter how smart we think we are. If people are afraid to use the product on their selves why use it on animals. Animals in deed feel pain and thats a fact. I do care about the animals in the past but this is now and experimentation is still going on now. Like dissections. We know what is in that animal but we still dissect I mean raising animals for dissections not just finding a dead animal. Its wrong to inject aids into a person and try to find a cure but its not wrong to do it to a animal that well the animal never even had a problem with aids before so why make the animal suffer for someone elses problems. Heres some info for you even if a product says its not animal tested once before in the past it was tested on animals.
Hope you make a difference.
Good luck to you.

Answer 4

I feel if they want to test on something....a group of volunteers would be better than animals, here's a why they would make the perfect volunteers and here's why they won't volunteer!!
1) People can tell you of a burning sensation, trouble breathing, faintness, dizziness, cottonmouth, or any other bad side effects drugs can cause....an animal....can't say anything or show much of any type of emotion except fear, of when someone who's supposed to care is going to hurt them more!!!

2) People won't volunteer for this because they know it's wrong.....so where are the voices for animals....the only voices they have are people with a heart and enough courage to take the criticism to stop this mess from continuing.

Animals are trusting until you make them fear you. Then they would rather run and hide from you.

Answer 5

It's awful. There is no excuse for using other animals for things like this. It is just not fair. The diseases that we get as humans are a result of the standard american diet and eating cooked or processed foods. I don't know why we do the things we do to protect this civilization even though we would all be happy-go-lucky and healthy if we just went back to the wild as hunter-gatherers. We are animals just like they are and we are no better. If those animals were born a couple hundred years ago they would not have been forced into a life of confinement and torture. They only get one life and we have no right to rob them of their freedom. Taking away their right to live life as nature intended is really demented.

Answer 6

Oh that is so weird i jsut got done making a speech in english class about animal testing and i aggreed with it 100%.
Cuase if u think about all the people who use penisilin to stay alive that drug was found by animal testing the vaccine for rabies was found by animal testing. There are lots of rules and regulations concerning the welfare of the animal. There even trying to find a vaccine for AIDS using animals. THink about this why would u inject a person with aids jsut to find an antibiotic, if u couldnt u cant just put a human down because that would be murder but u can humanely uthanize an animal.Some of the many vaccines that have been found due to animal testing are used in treating polio, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, rubella, and rabies. All of these are deadly if not treated properly. Lots of the drugs go through intensive screenings to test how safe it is to use on animals. If they think it is unsafe the drug WILL NOT be used on the animals. Also many of the surgeries that are so common today weren’t even known about until scientists tried them out on animals. Animal testing also plays a big part in today’s economics. If we didn’t have it many would lose their jobs.Kidney transplants, used dog kidneys lead to 10,188 transplants to humans. Liver transplants, pigs, 3,056 livers. Pig livers used to filter blood for awaiting liver transplant people. Pig coronary transplants, 2,173 heart transplants were given. Development of heart-lung machine, by animals, have increased survival undergoing heart surgery. 90% of all congenital, which is born with, heart cases are cured. Rats were used in techniques used for 555 pancreas tran. in 1992. Dogs, 535 lung transplants. 1870 tuberculosis death. Vaccine through animal testing. Never found quarter u.s popu. would be dead by 25 and half by 50. 50 mill. suffered from hypertension, unusually high blood pressure, alive. Childhood diseases whooping cough and rubella virtually disappeared. 1984 only eight polio in U.S. compared 1952 58,000.In past half or all dogs died distemper animal testing created a vaccine that abolished this disease. Some animal tested for animals vaccines are rabies, canine parvo virus, feline leukemia, cholera, and parasites. it also helps the economy cause there would be alot of people jpbless if they based there whole college carrer around animals and testing on animals then dis. one day. What would they do and what would there families do?

Answer 7

That is a seriously loaded question. It all really depends on what animal is being used to experiment for what. If it's for make up and beauty products then it's wrong. That stuff should only be tested on people who can actually say "hey this hurts" or "I don't like this". But for actual medical experiments that can save many lives and is useful, then there shouldn't be a problem.

Answer 8

guys animal experementation

Answer 9

I think there is a time and a place for animal testing.
I think that there can be humane testing and the animals should be treated humanely.
I think there should be less animal testing.
Please don't use PETA as your only sourse for information. They do good things, but they can be a little misguided and over the top on some things.

Answer 10

well i dont know any faacts or statistics or even hat the laws surrounding it are, but I think that if you don't trust the product enough to test it on yourself then you shouldnt be testing it on ANYTHING els. period.

Answer 11

all i know is they have lots of monkeys and pigs that get experimented on daily..the pig has boiling water on it to see how she burns,,monkeys gets a limb cut off to find out if a medicine will turn his pee green..if they have to do it do it on rats,but no one human or animal should be terrorized by experiments and then when there too old kill them,,,,