Animal Testing

This has become quite a long argument, jlconservative, and I applaud you for your passion toward the subject. I want to make it clear right now to anyone reading this that this was a debate I was challenged to, and I am merely debating for the sake of debating. That said, I wish to bring up more information, just for the sake of presenting more information. As many as 115 million animals are experimented on and killed in laboratories in the U.S. every year. Much of the experimentation-including pumping chemicals into rats' stomachs, hacking muscle tissue from dogs' thighs, and putting baby monkeys in isolation chambers far from their mothers-is paid for by you, the American taxpayer and consumer, yet you can't visit a laboratory and see how the government has spent your money. You can't even get an accurate count on the number of animals killed every year because experimenters and the government have decided that mice and rats and certain other animals don't even have to be counted. This is referring to the Animal Welfare act, a document passed that OBVIOUSLY doesn't cover rats, birds, mice and other small animals. Here is some more Animal experimentation is a multibillion-dollar industry fueled by massive public funding and involving a complex web of corporate, government, and university laboratories, cage and food manufacturers, and animal breeders, dealers, and transporters. The industry and its people profit because animals, who cannot defend themselves against abuse, are legally imprisoned and exploited. Obviously this comes from a highly opinionated and not very detailed source, but it still presents quite accurate information. There have been numerous testimonies from the actual "experimenters", per say, and they say Its A OK because the animals are not like us. Bull. The animals that have organs MUCH SIMILAR TO OURS, like monkeys and dogs, are still used for animal testing. Now I see how this can be beneficial to organ testing and what not but, seriously. I also direct your attention to http://www.defra.gov.uk..., a website listing all of the animal welfare acts and Animal Regulations in the U.S. and UK. Another great website is http://www.hsus.org... If you don't want to go through the trouble of visiting and critiquing these websites, then I might add some here. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) spells out the minimum standards of care and treatment required for certain animals used in research, bred for commercial sale, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the agency responsible for establishing these minimum standards of care and enforcing them through inspections. Originally enacted in 1966, the AWA initially regulated only the acquisition and handling of animals by dealers. It was amended in 1970 to include the care of animals in research institutions. However, birds, rats, and mice bred for research were excluded from regulatory oversight. Subsequently, an amendment was passed as part of the 2002 Farm Bill (the USDA later issued the regulations in 2004) to explicitly exclude virtually all birds, rats, and mice bred for research. These species account for approximately 85% of all animals used in laboratories. The Animal Welfare Act also requires that any institution conducting research on USDA-regulated species have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), which oversees and provides final approval of experiments. This committee must ensure that any pain and distress caused by experiments be minimized, and that investigators consider any alternatives that are available to them (including non-animal alternatives). Standards regarding amount of space, feeding, bedding, exercise, and transportation are written according to species. The standards are broken into three subsections under Part 3 of the USDA regulations, namely Facilities and Operating Standards, Animal Health and Husbandry Standards, and Transportation Standards. that is a passage describing the Animal Welfare Act The Guides stated goal is "to promote the humane care of animals used in biomedical and behavioral research, teaching and testing; the basic objective is to provide information that will enhance animal well-being, the quality of biomedical research, and advancement of biologic knowledge that is relevant to humans or animals." The Guide sets forth standards for animal care in areas such as pain and analgesia use, veterinary care, and behavioral management. That was a passage describing the public health service policy. It protects and promotes humane care of animals. I also recommend going to http://www.stopanimaltests.com... of which I am sure you have been. There is an excellently descriptive video hosted by the actor, James Cromwell, made by PETA. It shows examples of the horrible things done to animals in research labs and the way they are treated. I will disprove some common myths as well. Myth: There are only a few animal rights organizations and they're not worth joining. Fact:There are hundreds of AR-related organizations scattered around the globe. In addition, there are many vegetarian and vegan groups. Visit http://animal-rights.com... for a list of organizations longer than they can post. Myth: Animal Rights is something minuscule that I shouldn't worry about. Fact: Many famous people have supported animal rights, and I have a few quotes to support it. The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withheld from them but by the hand of tyranny. Jeremy Bentham (philosopher) Life is life--whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage... Sri Aurobindo (poet and philosopher) Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. Thomas Edison (inventor) The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. Leonardo Da Vinci (artist and scientist) Myth: Arent animal rights hypocritical, because you don't give rights to plants and insects? Fact: This is an argument frequently used against animal right activists and the like. The general hypocrisy argument appears in many forms. A typical form is as follows: "It is hypocritical to assert rights for a cow but not for a plant; therefore, cows cannot have rights." We then begin to assess the rights of an insect verses the rights of a cow. Hmm. Big difference. I am near to running out of characters, and I want to leave readers with a quote to tie up my argument. The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Mahatma Gandhi (statesman and philosopher) Thank you.