Animal Testing and Research

Animals are routinely cut open, poisoned, and forced to live in barren steel cages for years, although studies show that because of vast physiological variations between species, human reactions to illnesses and drugs are completely different from those of other animals. Today's non-animal research methods are humane, more accurate, less expensive, and less time-consuming than animal experiments, yet change comes slowly and many researchers are unwilling to switch to superior technological advances. Animal experimentation not only is preventing us from learning more relevant information, it continues to harm and kill animals and people every year. [Read more here]

There are two basic arguments against vivisection:

1. It is unethical treatment of the animals involved. Experiments on animals often necessarily involve cruelty, and often efforts that could be taken to alleviate pain are not taken. The standards of the Animal Welfare Act are often disregarded, and enforcement is rare. If you would not subject your own dog or cat to an experiment, why would you condone subjecting another animal to the experiment? If you would not condone an experiment being performed on a human, why would you condone it being performed on some other conscious, feeling being?
2. Animal experiments are dangerous for human health. The results of experiments on animals are often not applicable to humans because of differences in biology, which can mean the non-identification of a dangerous substance or the release of a non-working drug with unknown human side-effects. Time, money, and effort are often wasted on pointless experiments.