Animal Testing

Sorry i haven't been posting a lot - busy with applications and exams.

So i recently just did a presentation about Animal Testing and i came across a quite interesting thing. I didn't know that it existed because it was invented before i was even born but as i was doing my research i came across it.

It's a sleeping pill called Thalidomide and i used it to back up my point about how animal testing really isn't an effective method to discover new medicines. This sleeping pill was introduced in around 1960s and it was claimed to help pregnant women with morning sickness problems.

The important thing is, they emphasised on how safe it is for even pregnant women because they tested this sleeping pill on a specific type of ape, which has one of the most similar body functions etc. to humans.

And the result? Thousands of babies born with missing organs and birth defects.

Which is why animal testing is so senseless because this is an excellent example of how we cannot compare the body functions of animals and humans.

--

Sidenote: Will get to replying all the messages soon! 

Animal Testing

So i had a message from another anonymous another day:

Not all animal experimenting are bad are you crazy. Don't talk like you know all the facts of animal testing

I don't know all the facts of animal testing. But then again, it has to depend on what you mean by "bad". If you mean not animal experimenting is unjustified, then yes, i do agree with that because i certainly agree that without animal testing the medical research would not be as updated as it is and animal testing has also played an important role in cancer research.

However, if you mean that not all animal experimenting is cruel. Then i would have to counter that. Animal Testing is justified by the medical industry, with their reports and multiple claims of how animal testing has helped the medical industry advance. This is only thinking in economic terms. As a human it's perfectly normal to think of money and health. However, there are animal activists who think of ethical and moral values. Animal Testing is in no way justified morally.

If animal testing isn't cruel, then why do we test on animals and not on humans? Surely, if it's just a few injections with no side effects nor mistreatment, then testing on humans wouldn't be so strongly rejected? 

We reject Animal Testing because of Ethical Reasons

Animals feel. They feel pain. joy. fear.

Locking them up in a dark, cramped cage for many days, weeks or even months at a time and jabbing needles into them regularly does not only put on stress on their bodies, also on their emotions. Not only will this change the results of whatever one is conducting animal testing for, it would also mean painful torture for an innocent animal.

Most of the animals in Germany are in-bred animals, bred specifically for the use of animal testing. Ouch. To open your eyes to a new world and the first thing you see is a pair of gloved hands separating you from your mother and then a few moments later, a few needles jabbing into you and you feel dizzy. Not a life anyone would want. The emotional and physical trauma cannot be put into words.

Do people honestly feel that it's alright for animals to be treated like this? 

Animal Testing

Of course, i cannot deny that without animal testing, we would not have many cures that we would have today. But then again, we do have advanced technology that can produce similar results, although it is probably more costly (in terms of economic terms), but the number of lives lost surely cannot be compared to expense.

I have received a few messages from a various of people, one who sent me this:

I hope you realize how many cures we've discovered from testing on animals. It has saved millions of people from dying. I don't support anyone killing an animal for fun, but these animals who were tested on were brought here for one purpose. Sorry, but that's the truth. And I think a humans life is more important than a rat.

In reply to the person who sent this to me anonymously:

I do know that many cures such as ones for diabetes were corrected and adjusted by animal testing. However, i'm not sure about the saving "millions of people". Animals and humans have completely different bodies, and every human body reacts differently to different types of medicine, surely if human bodies, who are already very similar to each other, are already experiencing such drastic differences, the results from testing on animals would surely be even more variable.