animal testing

I am against animal testing on both moral and scientific grounds. Morally, animal testing is often extremely cruel and completely unnecessary. For example, I once saw some undercover footage from a laboratory in which dogs were being force-fed weedkiller. Allegedly, this was to see how toxic said weedkiller was. However, it had already been tested on humans, and the dogs were being given 50 times what had been established as a dangerous dose for humans - what possible reason could there have been for this? It is nothing short of torture, just like pouring shampoo into an animal's eyes just to see what happens, or infecting it with horrific diseases like cancer just to see if a potential cure works. I find these sorts of things utterly repugnant. Scientifically, testing products meant for humans on animals is unreliable and potentially dangerous. Animals react differently to humans to many substances, rendering many tests pointless. For example, a contraceptive called Tamoxifen was once developed which was tested on rats. It worked as intended, and was given to humans. However, it had the opposite effect on women, actually increasing their fertility! There are many other examples, some of which had much more harmful consequences. You may remember Thalidomide, a drug given to pregnant women to prevent morning sickness. It had been tested on animals and declared safe for humans, but it caused severe deformities in many of the babies born after their mothers had taken it. A couple of years ago a drug called TGN1412 was tested on some human volunteers, and very nearly killed them - they were on life support for some time, and were left with permanent health problems. Prior to being given to these people, this drug had already been tested on monkeys at a dose 500 times stronger than that which was given to the humans, without causing the monkeys any ill effects. Aspirin causes birth defects in cats. Penicillin kills guinea pigs. 6-azauridine, a cancer drug which can be used in humans for long periods, will kill dogs in a few days in even small doses. The list goes on. My personal view is that products meant for humans should be tested on humans. It's the only way to know if they will work as intended, and we have the choice of whether or not to volunteer for testing - animals are given no choice, they are simply used and discarded like objects. They have as much right to live as we do, and the right to live that life free of pain and misery. As noted philosopher Jeremy Bentham put it, the central question is not "Can they reason?" nor "Can they talk?", but "Can they suffer?" And obviously they can. Our greater intelligence gives us a responsibility to protect other species, not the right to use and abuse them in any way we see fit - that should be abhorrent to any sentient, compassionate being. Poisoning, shocking, burning, and killing animals is all in a day's work for vivisectors. If these atrocious acts were committed outside laboratories, they would be felonies. But animals suffer and die every day in laboratories with little or no protection from cruelty. Here are the top five reasons why it needs to stop: 1. It's unethical to sentence 100 million thinking, feeling animals to life in a laboratory cage and intentionally cause them pain, loneliness, and fear. 2. It's bad science. The Food and Drug Administration reports that 92 out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in humans. 3. It's wasteful. Animal experiments prolong the suffering of people waiting for effective cures by misleading experimenters and squandering precious money, time, and resources that could have been spent on human-relevant research. 4. It's archaic. Forward-thinking scientists have developed humane, modern, and effective non-animal research methods, including human-based microdosing, in vitro technology, human-patient simulators, and sophisticated computer modeling, that are cheaper, faster, and more accurate than animal tests. 5. The world doesn't need another eyeliner, hand soap, food ingredient, drug for erectile dysfunction, or pesticide so badly that it should come at the expense of animals' lives. For everyday ways to keep animals out of cruel experiments, see PETA's list of surprising ways to help animals in laboratories.