Editorials


 * __Editorials__**

Silent Suffering By Lyndesey

Medical testing on animals is unacceptable. Would you like to be tested and experimented on, then locked in a cold, bare cage in a laboratory, just waiting in terror and fear for the next painful procedure? I'm positive I wouldn't like it and I'm pretty sure animals don't like it one bit either. One reason that I'm against testing is because these animals have no choice or say in what happens to them. They also have just as big of a right and reason to live freely like humans but they don't have a voice and can't tell someone if they are hurting. They are defenseless, and they look to humans for help and support, but they aren't getting that in these labs. Some people believe that animals shouldn't have rights just because they lack our intelligence and they can't work like people do, serving members of society. A reason that we should take care of them and not harm them is because they don't have capabilites like people do. Our feelings are what makes us human beings and animals have feelings and are capable of emotions, too. Another reason testing is wrong to do is because that some results that come from animal testing are done and redone with the same results over and over again. There are other ways to do these tests without using, hurting, and killing animals. There are many physiological and antomical differences between animals and humans. This shows that testing is meaningless if it doesn't help humans in any way. If a drug is approved because it wasn't harmful to a certain animal, that doesn't mean it won't harm a human. Millions of animals from animal testing die each year all over the world. Official numbers are the only numbers that count for the registered deaths. In Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs), where there's corruption, the numbers may be higher or lower than what it says they are. The exact number of animals that die is uncertain. On average, there is possibly millions that die. There are ways that people can take a stand daily against medical testing on animals. We can save them from the painful experiments by purchasing the cruelty-free products that are avaliable in stores everywhere. You can also donate to humane charities that help people without hurting animals. There is a lot of people that are surprised to learn that some cosmetics, personal care products, foods and beverages, and household cleaning products are still tested on animals. They are also surprised to hear that local universities or hospitals torment animals in cruel experiments. Modern alternatives to testing on animals exist but huge multiproduct manufacturers continue to poison and harm animals in tests that aren't required by law. Rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other animals are forced to swallow or inhale large quantities of test substances, or they have to endure the pain of having chemicals applied to their eyes or skin. This still happens even though the results of animal tests are often unreliable or unrelateable to humans. Even if a product harmed an animal, it can still be marketed to you. Universities and hospitals imprison millions upon millions of animals for their use in painful and deadly medical training exercises and curiosity-driven experiments that are funded by tax payer's money and health charities. Some of these health charities include the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the March of Dimes, who are wasting their money on cruel, unnecessary experiments that are performed on helpless animals, instead of spending the money on promising human-based research. These are some of the reasons that I am against animal testing and why I think that there needs to be an end to it. I think that people could help stop animal testing, or atleast some of it. One way is that people could refuse to purchase a companie's product or give them donations if they test on animals. You could also write to these companies and tell them that you will not support them or buy their products until they stop testing on harmless animals. Animals don't deserve this horrible pain and fear, and it needs to stop. Animals have feelings and they hurt just like us. Silent Suffering By: Lindsey

http://wcfcourier.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letter-to-the-editor-for-dec/article_3933d706-280a-11e1-9002-001871e3ce6c.html

Do you care about animals? Do you care about what scientists do to them? They are being tested on every day. Whether or not it’s medical or cosmetic it’s still wrong. You don’t want that to happen to you, so why make them suffer. Medical testing on animals is not acceptable.

Inspections of animal testing laboratories by veterinary officers from the Department of Agriculture found that rats in one facility developed a disease because they were housed in a warehouse with no moisture in the air. Does that sound like fun? Is that a thing that you would want to do?

Claims that animal testing has or will lead to cures for every human ailment are powerful but there is little scientific evidence to back them up. One review of 76 animal research papers concluded that “patients and physicians should remain cautious about extrapolating the findings of prominent animal research to the care of human disease”. (David 2011)

In practice, as everyone knows, animals are not routinely treated well by animal experimenters. Apart from the fact that millions of animals die each year in experiments, others are often not adequately anaesthetized and are abused by handlers and experimenters. It is idealistic to suppose that this will ever stop as long as society endorses vivisection, the cutting of or operation on aliving animal usually for physiological or pathological investigation. (Dixon 2000).

Some people think it’s alright to test on animals because they think it will help develop new cures for many diseases and sicknesses but in reality it’s not helping anyone. The Department of Agriculture agrees with this. The only people who benefit from this are the scientists who waste their time testing things on these animals. These are things that will make the animals sick but will not help us humans in the slightest.

In conclusion, I think that testing on animals is wrong and a complete waste of time and money. Others who enjoy the company of animals will say the same.

If you want any more ideas on why animal testing is wrong please visit any of these sites:

www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animal-testing-bad-science.aspx

www.veaganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/animal_testing.htm

http://www.knowledgesutra.com/discuss/tsodti-debate-animal-testing.om>.

http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=7>.