I've undergone a multitude of treatments, including dialysis and a kidney transplant four months ago. Despite this, I absolutely oppose vivisection. The flawed premise that meaningful scientific conclusions can be drawn about one species by studying another. This position wasn't derived from a simple sentimental decision to avoid inflicting suffering or torment on animals. It was only after many hours of research in UCLA's Biomedical library that I arrived at the conclusion I now realize is shared by an ever-growing number of scientific and medical authorities.
Animal research violates even the simplest parameters of scientific methodology.
Despite the clumsy patchwork of extrapolation and genetic manipulation, it is ultimately meaningless, even dangerous. It dismisses or minimizes differences between infinitely complex biological organisms whose every minuscule tissue represents a hopeless morass of variables. Science is a precise, not a metaphoric device, and the fact that vivisection is an entrenched dogma in much of the medical community does not alter its basic infraction of the rules of logic and science. You can't figure out how to get from Burbank to Santa Monica by studying a map of Africa. The consequences of such flawed thinking are horrific in terms of both animal and human suffering.