Animal Experimentation Essays (4018 words) - Animal Welfare

Animal Experimentation ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION Holly Anderson was a strong supporter for animal rights. When she was a little girl, she saw a cat get run over by a car. As she watched it die slowly, some young boys were poking it with a stick. She screamed, Why dont you leave that poor cat alone! One boy replied, We wanted to see if maggots will come out of its nose! Hey Jimmy! the boy yelled at his friend, Go get your firecrackers! Holly started crying and ran away. From then on, she viewed all scientists who use animals to experiment on as immature little boys just trying to get a kick out of blood and guts. Not only did she not like what the scientists did to the animals, she was so close-minded about the issue, she hadnt even considered the other side, and she refused to. Now Holly is thirty-five years old and is happily married with five children and just as many cats. One summer day, she walked upstairs to wake up her children. She walked into the room to see them all very sick in their beds. They were all running a high fe ver and were having trouble breathing. She took them all to the emergency room where they were tested immediately. After a whole days waiting, she was called into a meeting with all the doctors. They told her that her children had contracted a deadly virus that they had never seen before and that they might not live unless the origin of this virus was found. They asked her if she had any animals and how many. She told them she had five cats. The doctors all talked privately and finally made a decision. Im sorry, Ms. Anderson, but I think were going to need those cats to find the serum for the virus. What are you going to do with them? she asked. They then told her they were going to take the cats to the lab where all of them would go through a series of experiments until they found the problem. They also explained they couldnt guarantee that any of the cats would live through the tests or that they wouldnt feel any pain. When they told her this, she pictured in her head a bunch of s cientists standing around her cats poking them with needles everywhere while the cats were restrained and struggling for breath. She shuddered at the thought of her cats going through that, but even more at her children dying. It took her less than five minutes to decide because she realized that animal experimentation could save her childrens lives. A few days later she left the hospital with her children, who were back to their normal, healthy selves. She felt bad for her five cats that were dead, but it was a good feeling having all five of her children there at the funeral for Fluffy, Furry, Frisky, Grumpy, and Stinky. She now understood the other side. She didnt exactly approve of it now, but she knew that animal testing must go on for her childrens children. Holly finally realized that animal testing must go on because it benefits society. There are many reasons a person should agree with animal experimentation, but there are also a few reason why some people are against animal experimentation. A few of these reasons are that animal experimentation is cruel and inhumane, animal experimentation is under regulated, and that there are alternatives to animal experimentation. Many people claim that animal experimentation is cruel and inhumane. It is said that many labs are unsanitary and small. Animals have been seen in cages with unbandaged wounds (Day 67). It is also said that primates are treated inhumanely and are put in small living quarters (Goo 96). They are kept alone and isolated. This is not good for their psychological well being (Wil 79). Actually, most of these claims are invalid due to the laws and regulations that have been set to make sure animals are not being treated like this. For every lab that does any type of animal testing, there has to be a veterinary staff just to watch the animals and the scientists who work on