Written By: Varunika Chalamalasetty
Edited By: Simir Reddy
Take the suffering out of science – PETA
Animal testing is popular in many industries but people argue that it is nowhere near ethical. Up to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted in the official statistics of animals tested. That means that millions of animals could be harmed or even killed without our knowledge. Though there are ethical guidelines to conduct animal testing, many people continue to misuse use of animals. Their lives are played with and some people do not care. These are living things so shouldn’t we be more respectful?
Animal testing not only harms them but also us. The results on animals are different from the results on humans. This means that we do not know if anything tested on animals is safe for us. According to the Humane Society, the registration of a single pesticide requires more than 50 experiments and the use of as many as 12,000 animals. This year the global pesticide usage has been estimated to increase up to 3.5 million tonnes!
The number of animals harmed each year is countless and many don’t recognise how much we are torturing these living beings. Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing.
On the other hand, animal testing is necessary. In order to prevent chemicals and other harmful substances affecting us, we first need to know what the substance can or would do to us. Without animal testing, humans would have to volunteer to take the risk of being abused. The damage caused to animals by testing is less impactful than if those same chemicals or products were to be used directly on humans.
Animals are said to reproduce faster than humans but it does not demean the value of their lives. This is why special precautions are taken by scientists and others who take part in animal testing so that these animals do not get harmed unnecessarily.
Animals are used to advance scientific understanding of the world around us. With more knowledge, we can create safer ways to test products. To protect the safety of people, animals and the environment we need to test what will work the most effectively. If we use animals as models to study disease, then in the future we may be able to eradicate the disease completely. Saving countless lives including those of animals.
Even though we may see the world as cruel and unjust, the developing world and technology have helped us even more than we can see. Personally, I feel like animals should be treated properly and not be used like some toy that is being passed around for personal pleasure. We would be considered devils and ruthless murderers in these animal’s history books but also a species just trying to develop. Animals are living things and though they may not be of our species, they can help us in thousands of ways. So, why can’t we help them?
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