Texan Mosaic

by ANNIE GOLDEN//Editorial Assistant

Everybody claims to be a sweet animal-lover.

But, trust me, there are other sides to these people, an inhumane side we all choose to ignore. There is always animal testing occurring, more than you realize.

According to Humane Society International, animals used in experiments and testing are abused. They are subjected to force feeding, forced inhalation, food and water deprivation, prolonged periods of physical restraint, the infliction of burns and other wounds to study the healing process, the infliction of pain to study its effects and remedies, and killing.

Although some may argue that animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments, there are now alternative testing methods that exist that can replace the use of animals. These treatments are humane, such as In Vitro (in glass), studying cell cultures in a Petri dish, and Micro-dosing (the administering of doses too small to cause adverse reactions) on human subjects.

These people are volunteers for the testing and know the risks involved. That is much better than forcing an unwilling animal. For example, these evil people testing on animals have clipped animals’ eyes open to test the irritation of products, sometimes for days at a time.

They are using species that may mislead researchers into ignoring potential cures and treatments. Some chemicals that are harmful to animals prove valuable when used by humans. Some medicines can be “shelved” (removed from places where the drugs can be purchased). The awful part about this is that some of these drugs are irrelevant to the animals, but can be extremely promising for humans.

On the flip side, not all drugs that pass animal tests are safe. According to BBC news, the 1950s sleeping pill thalidomide, which caused 10,000 babies to be born with severe deformities, was tested on animals prior to its commercial release. So it makes no sense to use unwilling, forcibly controlled, animals. These animals are innocent and dying. Our fragile Earth has no room for abusing and killing off animals to find irrelevant data and treatments.

Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plants, insects, birds and mammals become extinct every 24 hours. This is because humanity is so focused on itself that it demolishes all surrounding life. This method of trying to improve humanity is destroying animals. And one way this happens is with animal testing.

Another word for animal testing is animal experimentation. Using poor animals to conduct science experiments is wrong and unnecessary. Around 50-100 million vertebrate animals are used in experiments annually. Maybe instead of using these creatures as subjects, scientists need to be studying subjects such as animal welfare, animal rights, and ethics.

One estimate of the number of mice and rats used in the United States alone in 2001 was 80 million. These facts and statistics drive me up the walls, because mice and rats are really gentle, interesting animals. Sadly, according to the mice and rat-friendly source, American Anti-Vivisection Society, millions are killed in painful experiments every year in the United States. Many laboratories that use these animals aren’t even required to give them medicine for pain or any kind of vet care. Lots of them end up dying after suffering for a very long time.

The animal abuse does not stop with mice or rats, though. Universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, defense establishments and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to industries are using God’s creatures for their own satisfaction. We can either deny it and keep denying it, or do something about it.