Animal Testing Should be Reduced

The common belief is that animal testing has accelerated science and medicine a great deal, but the truth is simple: animal experimentation has not cured a single disease. People have been misled into believing that animal experimentation is responsible for many “miracle cures” and “medical breakthroughs” for decades. The reason is very straightforward: animals differ from humans greatly—too much to be able to have accurate results from experiments. The only progress with infectious disease made in the 20th century was made through improved nutrition, hygiene, and public sanitation. This is not a result of animal research. In response, many ask this question: what about the polio vaccine? Was it not developed through animal testing? This is one of the biggest lies ever spread throughout the public. The polio vaccine had many problems and did nothing to stop the disease. It was released in the 50’s, a time when polio was already declining because natural infectious microorganisms have a specific life cycle; they grow and reach a peak—at that point, they start to die off. What proves this is the fact that in areas in the U.S. and in other countries where neither the vaccine nor any other medical help was given, polio died off at the same rate as the places without medical help.

Here is my question to all those pro animal testers out there: if animal testing is so safe, why is it that the FDA is forced to take thousands of pharmaceutical drugs off the shelves after they have been proven “safe” after animal experimentation? In response, someone may say something such as this: animal testing is better than nothing; besides, they are just beings that do not think or reason. It is true that the main difference between humans and other animals is our ability to think and reason. However, what about those who are mentally challenged? Surely, some animals are smarter than some humans are. Surely there are some humans who cannot think or reason; yet, these people are treated in a special way.

Animals are constantly being tortured while scientists and test conductors claim that the animals are not in pain and given painkillers. However, this is not true. Most tests do cause pain. If you think about it, how can tests trying to see if make-up irritates the eye, not be painful? In addition, these animals are not given anesthetics prior to tests nor any painkillers administered to ease the pain afterward in fear that these drugs may cause inaccurate results in tests.