Animal testing has been a highly debated topic for a while now. Many people discuss pros and cons, and along with that, try to justify it. Some people don’t understand the extent of animal testing, but luckily there’s more and more awareness being spread. Animals shouldn’t have to suffer to benefit us. Animal testing is cruel and ineffective and scientists need to begin looking for more effective, less harmful forms of testing. 

Around 25 million animals are killed each year in the US alone for research, education, and testing. There are many types of animal testing tactics. Animals are being forced down with a syringe stuck in their mouth so they can receive a chemical in their stomach. Sometimes they’re forced to breathe toxic vapors for hours. Despite what some people think, it is not just mice. The list is long and includes dogs, monkeys, cats, ferrets, pigs, rabbits, sheep, rats, baboons, horses, and more. 

Aside from animal testing for the makeup that you see on shelves or other home products, Animals are used in testing to attempt health advancements. Double Trouble was the name of a cat sold to the University of Wisconsin for testing. Scientists cut into her skull and implanted devices like metal posts to use for later studies of how the brain processes sound. She was also later deafened. The experiment turned out to be a complete failure. Double Trouble’s skull wound developed an infection and she passed away. The surviving cats held there were thankfully rescued, and the lead scientist resigned. This is an example of an experiment stopped. Think of how many animals are still out there waiting to be rescued. 

During testing they are kept in steel, practically empty cages with very few blankets or toys, if any at all. They’re left there lonely, after suffering through immensely painful experiments. Animals begin to associate humans with the painful situations they go through. When any person approaches their cage they build up anxiety with nowhere to escape to. Constant stress can lead these animals to mutilate themselves. Scientists have no excuse to make any animal live through constant pain and panic.

 Animal testing is shown to not be extremely effective. According to the National Institutes of Health, around 95% of drugs tested on animals ultimately fail in human trials. The NIH ends up wasting around 12 billion dollars a year on dead-end research.  The NIH has also admitted that animal testing “often fails to provide good ways to mimic disease or predict how drugs will work in humans, resulting in much wasted time and money.” There is no point in making these animals suffer for results like this. 

Investing time and money in finding a way to get accurate test results would be much more beneficial. There isn’t a humane way to give a living thing a deadly disease. It’s time to take suffering out of science. 

There are ways you can help too, such as switching out products to ones that are cruelty-free. If you’re not sure what is cruelty-free and what isn’t, there are many websites that list cruelty-free products.

Here are some resources you can check out:

https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/list-of-cruelty-free-brands/ 

https://ethicalelephant.com/cruelty-free-brand-list/ 

Brands tend to advertise if they’re cruelty-free on their packaging as well.