Animal Rights

It may seem as though the many medications we use today would not be available to us had they not been tested on animals. The truth is, they would not be attainable had scientists not tested on non-animal subjects. Despite popular belief, testing drugs on animals often give defective results. Although animals may seem the like ideal specimens for testing new drugs, the experiments are untrustworthy and can cause unknown side effects.

Research on animals is deemed necessary to develop vaccines, treatments, and cures for diseases and to ensure that new products are safe for human use. To many, animals are viewed more as test subjects than anything else. Scientists have found various ways to control an animal's life such as their diet, the temperature of their environment, lighting and more. Animals are biologically similar to humans, but not identical. When the drugs are injected into the animals they can form some of the same health problems and physical reactions as a human could. This is not fair for these innocent animals.

Although animals have helped form useful medicines for humans like anesthesia, they have also helped put dangerous drugs on the market. For example, Practocal, a drug for heart disorders that passed animal testing was pulled off the shelves when it caused blindness in people. Also, arsenic, which is toxic and causes cancer in humans, has not caused cancer in any animals that were tested. Animal experimentation can also keep effective drugs off of the market. Many drugs that have been tested on animals were found to be deadly or involved serious side effects but if tested on humans could have been found to successfully cure or treat a specific disease.

Physical side effects can also be different because humans and lab animals are different species. A rat is different than a pig, which is different than a human. Since every species has their own differences, it is hard to predict any side effects that will