Why animal testing is here to stay

in #animals7 years ago (edited)

Animal testing has played a vital role in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last century; put simply, it is a MUST for modern healthcare. The issue of safety is just one of many which plagues innovation in the medical sector, and this is where animal testing proves vital - medicine, medical devices and newfound surgical procedures all require a high degree of certainty before they can be administered to humans.

On paper, animal testing is the holy grail of the medical realm, assisting scientists in whatever they set their mind to. It provides an almost exact representation of the human anatomy whilst remaining the most ethical way of further progressing medicine and health. After all, if we don’t experiment on animals, who exactly are we going to experiment on?

First things first, what does animal testing contribute to? Just to name a few; drug development, the discovery and refinement of new surgical procedures, and healthcare devices like pacemakers. It improves human health, full stop. In fact, animal testing is SO effective that the California Biomedical Research Association has pegged it to almost every lifesaving discovery of the last century.

What do YOU believe is more ethical? Subjecting humanity to an eternity of suffering, or persisting in the vision of curing disease once and for all - at the MINOR, humane, and beneficial expense of a VERY small amount of lab animals, 97% of those in the UK being mice, rats, fish and birds.

To delve further into WHY animal testing is necessary, let’s take a glance at the drug Penicillin. On the search for antibacterial substances, its founder faced the dilemma of toxicity. Taking no second thoughts at the time, he rushed to inject two mice with the drug, they remained healthy and he continued his research – Penicillin proved to be a miracle.

However, this isn’t always the case. Drugs pose an unprecedented risk of toxicity. Had the experiment gone wrong, which is unfortunately the fate of many other drug trials, testing could’ve proved fatal and resulted in the death of LIVING, BREATHING human beings – but that doesn’t matter, right? Scientists needed a living, whole body system to complete these tests; there’s simply no workaround or alternative.

Animal testing has substantially contributed to our wellbeing; from helping to eradicate smallpox, which killed 300 to 500 million in the 20th century, to providing a solution for diabetes sufferers who would otherwise be dead; it has revolutionized our ability to treat human and animal ailments, directly saving millions of lives in the process.

With ethics committees solely dedicated to ensuring that the benefits of research outweigh animal suffering, there is simply no doubt that Australia (and other first world countries) has some of the highest standards of laboratory animal welfare in the world.

Our ideology is underpinned by a legal set of guidelines known as the 3Rs - reduction, replacement and refinement. Researchers are legally obliged to reduce the numbers of animals used in research, refine their experimental techniques to minimise pain and stress, and above all, only carry out the research when there’s no suitable alternative.

Furthermore, any animal testing that occurs in Australia must be critiqued against a strict range of conditions and requirements by a professional before commencement. Animals MUST be provided with adequate shelter and living conditions, and trialled in the most humane manner possible.

Animal research hasn't benefited humans alone. Everything from farm animals to household pets, wild and endangered species are all reaping the benefits from crucial information deduced from animals. Subsequently, all walks of life are now experiencing reduced instances of sickness and disease. Conceivably, the most confronting aspect of it all is that animal testing has actually rescued endangered species like the black-footed ferret from the brink of extinction.

Some may argue that success in animal experimentation doesn’t necessarily equate to success in human safety. And while this is true in a minority of cases, there is simply no equally reliable alternative, this is precisely why we NEED animal testing.

So-called animal rights activists are quick to highlight flaws, but they sure don’t offer any solution to the issues that they identify. If you believe animal testing is cruel and unusual, then consider this. More farm animals are eaten by humans as food than the entire animal population used for research, how HYPOCRITICAL! With consideration to the advancement of healthcare, it is a small price to pay. To elaborate, for every chicken researched, an equivalent of 340 are used as food. Boy, are we quick to judge.

Having yielded exceptional results in the past, animal testing is a scientifically sound research method. It HAS and will continue to save a potentially limitless amount of human and animal lives. At society’s current point in time, it is PARAMOUNT that we continue our quest for immortality and the end of suffering.

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I work at a lab that produces genetically modified mice and I can guarantee that some of the work we have done has produced treatments that have saved peoples lives. We are always looking to reduce the amount of animals we use in cloning and breeding as we do not wish to harm any more animals than necessary.

Your lab produces genetically manipulated shitmice and you are talking about saving lives? I hope u dont believe what you are writing here bro. :'D Or maybe the trolls are already at steemit? That would be so fucking shitty.

Obviously you don't grasp what genetic modification does to mice and rats. I'm sure you have a frankensteinish vision of it (like many people do), which is far from the truth.

Genetic modification usually targets only a specific gene to study one specific metabolic pathway. Some modifications can improve the animal's health, and some don't. The EXACT same thing happens with humans naturally or artificially (pollution, exposure, genetic diseases, etc), and understanding the cellular mechanism helps in the development of cures. I hope you find this enlightening.

this is a very old version of the real facts.

Great to hear. The least harm done to the animals, the better.

I definitely agree. Animal studies are needed to help establish a broad idea of safety and efficacy before and if we move onto human trials. The face of medicine today would be very different if we were unable to use animals for testing.

Even though it has produced results -- we are at a critical juncture where we have the capability to create new ways to solve our problems.

This article is older, but this is the direction I want to see our society going in. There is no reason why we should continue to harm other species when we have new problem solving methods.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/25/online-gamers-solving-sciences-biggest-problems

Your argument is sound, but rationalizing something does not make it right. I mean we could argue that society should remain divided based on a class system, and I could present a well argued and sound reason for it, but does that make my sound argument the right thing to do?

Humans think they are above all others. Come the day when the tables will turn we will realize what we have brought onto ourselves.

Animal testing should be banned! this is inhumane.

Wrong, read my comment below.

That may well be the case but you'd almost certainly be dead if it wasn't for the contribution that animals have made to the medical sector. Entire species of animals have also been saved from the testing of their own species, as well as rescued from the brink of extinction. Lastly, regulations surrounding the practice make it as humane as possible.

it would be nice to test all this toxic "medicine" at your body, you can do nothing against it, but hey we do it humane as possible for you!

watch this

in full, and then see what you think. As above so below.

This whole topic is polemic. More people should watch this video to have a better understandment of the matter.

agreed! and agreed!

its sad how animals need to sacrifice themselves for the sake of mankind. I wish there is an alternative way to get this better in the future :(:(

they don't sacrifice themselves - come on, your positive thinking is laden with denial here. they are abused, tortured and killed against their WILL!

Breaks my heart.

Would be better if we could run all this testing through a simulation.

Yes i agree with you. The only way for things to get better is when we are awaken to reality.

It's an interesting topic to tackle. Almost like saying, "sun bathing extends your life because it makes you feel good."

Makes you think.

Rats with red eyes are always weird, but it's a solid photo, so you've got that going for you. Thanks for the alt-perspective.

Gaze upon it!

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It is never ok in any circumstance to hold someone against there will and torture, mutilate, and kill them. Animals feel pain. Animals feel love. Animals feel fear. Animals do not want to do die. Just like us.

Well written article~ Animal testing are indeed cruel but critical for drug development. Anyone who benefits from modern medicine should not forget all the animals that were sacrificed behind the drug/ surgery they had.

I personally are grateful for the animal testing for life saving drugs, but really upset with the fact that animal testings were used in the beauty industry, for cosmetic test as well as plastic surgery testings. Those are not life and death matters and we human should not sacrifice animals for aesthetic purpose....

Thank you for the compliment. I totally agree, we shouldn't be sacrificing animal lives for the beauty industry, that's absolute rubbish. We also need to minimise animal suffering as much as possible, which seems to be happening lately as computer modelling advances.