Ugly Facts

Approximately more than 100 million innocent animals are tested on every year, including rats, mice, rabbits, cats, dogs and primates. The exact amount is unknown because animals such as rats and mice who make up more than 95 percent of animals used in these experiments are unprotected by even the most basic aspects of the Animal Welfare Act, and therefore there lives go uncounted.

What are these tests?

The most common are:

• Skin and eye irritation tests in which chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or poured into the eyes without any pain relief being administered to the animals.

• Repeated force-feeding experiments that last weeks or months, to witness symptoms of general illness or specific health hazards that may be a possible side effect of the product.

• Finally, probably most inhumane, “lethal dose” tests are conducted, where animals are forced to swallow substantial amounts of chemicals to determine what dosage causes death.
   

 Most tests result in some form of permanent damage or death. The counter argument for animal testing, is that testing on animals identifies the potential risks a product may have on humans. Pro-testers argue that human life is more valuable than animals, and that the knowledge to be obtained from these tests, far outweighs its unethical and inhumane nature. It is true that without animal research, advances into curing cancer, safe and effective vaccines, and a general understanding of diseases and potential dangers will never have been developed without the information derived from these tests. However, if the constant research and extension of experiments has led to all of this information being uncovered, then one could argue that putting that level of research, and extending and testing alternatives to animal testing can also achieve a situation where no living animal is harmed in the research that needs to be obtained. One could also argue that by extending their fields of experimental content, scientists may produce more accurate results. Especially seeing as nine out of ten experiments that are successful with animals, have opposite effects in humans. Thus decreasing the reliability of scientific results, and also deteriorating the argument of Pro-testing.

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UGLY