How many of us reading this have a furry little friend or big friend at home that we treat as part of our family? I do and his name is Gordon. He is a Boxer Lab mix and he is about 2 years old. When I play with him or when I take him out for a run, actually he takes me; I can't help but wonder how someone could possibly do harmful tests on innocent animals like Gordon.
Every year, millions of animals undergo painful suffering or death as a result of scientific research into the effects of drugs, food additives, cosmetics and other chemical products. While some people think animal testing is necessary, others are upset by what they see as needless suffering.
Many medical treatments and procedures have been developed from experiments on animals. Since animals share many features with humans, scientists use animals to test the safety and effectiveness of newly developed drugs before testing it on humans. Medical doctors practice new operating techniques such as transplants on animals. Many doctors have said that it is just experimentation and the majority of the animals tested are just fine in the end. Without animal testing many procedures or new drugs would be extremely unsafe and possibly hazardous to us as humans. That is why the U.S. gives at least five billion tax dollars to conduct medical experiments on animals each year. .
However, many people are concerned that animals are suffering unnecessary pain and are treated rather cruelly. Since there have been so many advances in knowledge and computer technology, they do not believe that every new drug that is produced or every new operating procedure that is discovered should be tested on animals. Another concern for this group is that many of the tests are ineffective and are non-essential. Rabbits are routinely blinded by having various products such as cosmetics, shampoo, soaps, and cleaning products forced into their eyes by many companies today.