Animal testing is morally wrong
by Kate Teasdale
Animal testing is cruel and inhuman! It is morally wrong to torture animals for our own benefit. Over 3 million animals have been tormented all in the name of research. It has been found that only 5-25% of side effects caused by medicines are accurately predicted. This leads me to wonder what is actually being gained by animal experimentation?
Everyday a human being will talk about his or her rights. If a person feels their rights have been taken away from them they will fight back. Therefore is it not hypercritical for humans -who are generally obsessed with their own rights- to torment and kill, innocent and defenseless animals? Why shouldn't animals recieve the same rights as humans?
Hundreds of animals die daily for scientific research. People seem to find this acceptable and turn a blind eye, but if the same number of humans were to die at the same time, wouldn't it be considered tragic? It can argued that animal experimentation can be beneficial and has helped find cures for some diseases. However the number of successes are very small. This could be due to differences between species, or due to the fact that these illnesses have been placed in the animals deliberatly.
Humans don't catch diseases in this way! Therefore would it not be more logical to use alternatives such as laboratory tests or computer simulators? These will do the job without any slaughter of innocent animals and it will stop inaccuracies caused by differences between species.
So why are animals used when the more logical solution would be to use alternative methods? the answer is simple - money. Animal experimantation is much cheaper - and what is the cruel destruction of animals compared to a pile of cash?
Imagine if this were happening to your own pets, to your cat or dog. Is the scientific benefits still the top priority?
What would happen if I were to deliberatley give another human a fatal disease, if i were to electrocute, shoot or poison them? This would be considered immorally wrong and I would be labeled as a psycho, and I would most certainly be jailed for it. Yet scientists can do this on a daily basis and no one thinks twice. Are these scientist labeled in this way? No - if they do manage to get lucky and create something beneficial from the torture, then they are seen as heroes.
We need to put an end to this cruelty, in the end what is more important, money or life?
For more information check out these websites:
http://www.frame.org.uk
http://www.uncaged.co.uk
Kate Teasdale
