Help Make a Difference For Our Furry Friends

Everyday animals are experimented on for the pure purpose of our curiosity. According to PETA over 100 million animals are killed every year right here in the U.S. 52% of adults in the U.S. don’t support animal testing but those that do justiy their reasoning because they believe animal testing is neccessary for medical research. The majority of animal testing contributes not to medical research but to cosmetics, soaps, and cleaning suplies. Even so in medical research the diseases induced into animals are nothing like the ones humans face. Furthermore because the human body is so complicated our biological structure isn’t like many that we see in animals. Dr. Richard Klausner, former director of the National Cancer Institute says, “We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t work in humans.” This proves that the belief that animal testing contributes to medical sciences is more flawed than it is true.
Now there are some benefits in medical researches that included animal testing. Way back in 1889 two german researchers, Oskar Minkowski and Joseph von Mering, discovered that when the pancreas gland from a dog was removed the dog experienced diabetes symptoms and died. This research led them to discover that insulin was made in the pancreas and that insulin helped manage and treat diabetes. On the other hand the first time anesthesia or knockout gases were used on animals during surgeries was in 1934 which means it’s safe to say that the experiment these German researchers did was very painful to the dog. Of course we can’t know that for sure so given the facts you decide.
The treatment and cruelty these animals fact is that of another level. Rabbits for instance and restrained with their eyes held open so researchers can drop chemicals into their eyes just so ours don’t burn like theirs do. There’s currently a hashtag going around on a platform most of us are familiar with. #ralph or #saveralph is now spreaing on TikTok to raise awarness for animal testing cruelty. The account makes TikToks almost as if a camera crew is following around and interviewing one rabbit named Ralph. He talks about how it’s his job to be a tester but it doesn’t have to be. According to PETA data shows that 85 HIV/AIDS vaccines have been successful in nonhuman primate studies. There was one instance where an AIDS vaccine used on a monkey was successful but failed in humans. We the public rarely ever hear about failed animal testing experiments which adds to the claim that it is wrong.
Futhermore going into the public our charitable donations, taxes, and purchases of lottery tickets fund animal testing. In 2019 the National Institute of Health budgeted close to $40 billion for research and testing. Other organizations that fund animal testing are the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Whether we know it or not the money we spend does matter in this case whether it be taxes or simply buying a lottery ticket.
Save Ralph, a short film produced by Blue-Tongue Films starring Taika Wakititi as Ralph, talks about animal testing. In the short film Ralph discusses (with a “camera crew”) about his life as a tester. In the beginning Ralph talks about how he’s blind in one eye and deaf in one ear but he states that it makes him happy. “Now I know it looks bad but the way I see it I’m doing my job, if just one human can have the illusion of a safer lipstick or deodorant,” now in the film Ralph says that he’s happy but the expressions and emotions in the atmosphere show the depression of animal testing. By the end of the film Ralph is completely blind, he faces the wrong direction from the camera revealing the burns on his back and then returns to discussing how we can help eliminate animal testing. It truly is an extremely sad film but it helps to understand what’s going on in our world as well as informative.
According to PETA common animals used in testing include mice, rats, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. These animals make up 99% of the animals used in testing but are specifically excluded from the lowest protections from the Animal Welfare Act. The majority of the laboratories that use just these animal species are not required by law to provide veterinary care or pain relief to their test subjects. Estimates show that at greatest 800 U.S. laboratories are exempted from inspections and federal laws because they only test on mice and rats. With the facts given it can be concluded that although the media tells us that animals are protected by laws, the laws given to protect the animals don’t do much protecting.
As of now many cosmetics test on animals as well as hygiene products. These products include Benefit, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Maybelline, OPI, and even Victoria’s Secret. By saying Victoria’s Secret tests on animals you are probably thinking of their clothing line, but I’m talking about their perfumes. Victoria’s Secret, on top of testing perfumes on animals, funds and supports animal testing in China only so they can sell their roducts there too. Here are some alternatives to using these products, Too Faced, Tarte, Nyx, Color Pop Cosmetics , and Wet and Wild. Help us fight this issue head on and stop supporting the following brands that support and fund animal testing.
Why argue about an issue without posing a solution though? Animal testing has been an issue since the time of the Anicient Greeks. That’s too long. We as humans have the power to stop this crude science so why don’t we? But as I said before, why argue about an issue without posing a solution so here's what some other scientist have come up with. According to the British Medical Journal, “If research conducted on animals continues to be unable to reasonably predict what can be expected in humans, the public’s continuing endorsement and funding of preclinical animal research seems misplaced.” We live in the 21st century and our computational skills are adequate enough to use for research benefiting humans and their health. It will be much more accurate for scientists to use human DNA and cells on research for humans instead of using animals as test subjects. However when talking about animal testing and coming up with the solution of using human cells and DNA we must keep a positve and creative outlook over the research. To help our furry friends visit https://www.humanedecisions.com/help-end-animal-testing/. Together we can make a difference and make animal testing a thing of the past.