Does it seem ethical to use animals in research to promote the advancement of medicine? I have mixed feelings about this. I love animals and it pains me to think of how many animals suffer due to this kind of experimentation. A few years ago, I toured a laboratory that implanted electrodes in rats brains to test their response to certain stimuli. From what I saw, they were treated kindly and anesthetized properly before the surgery. Each had their own cage and cute little hamster wheel. In this video, it shows the animal research wing of a very prestigious hospital in Hollywood, the Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
This facility looks very clean and they seem to treat the animals nicely. Though the fact that they use dogs kind of took me by surprise. But how is this lone video supposed to convince us animal lovers that all research facilities are like this? I'm sure its very cost-saving to skimp on veterinarians and cleaning staff and individual cages. Although there are many videos like this trying to convince us that animal research centers are lovely places where all of the animals are happy and healthy and adorable like Oreo, theres dozens more showing the brutality that these kinds of animals endure. This next video was taken by an undercover investigator in a lab where they tested Oxycontin on beagles.
This hit very close to home because my beautiful dog is a beagle and to see other beagles like him in this kind of place made me feel very sad. Beagles are very trusting and friendly which makes them perfect for this kind of testing because they don't harbor ill feelings towards the staff. At the end, its so sad to see them carted off to the procedure room (which is just a room with a desk full of the injections) because they seem so excited to be going on an adventure and finally getting out of their cages. And all they get is a shot full of drugs.
Although animal testing makes me cringe, I can't deny that it benefits. Lots of medication wouldn't be here today without the use of animals to study physiology and to test the drugs themselves. I'm sure that its a lot easier to get a thousand rats to test a new drug than to get a thousand consenting humans.
Even though animal testing is a necessary evil, the industry could probably do with stricter regulations and possible site visits to check the quality of the facility.
Although animal testing makes me cringe, I can't deny that it benefits. Lots of medication wouldn't be here today without the use of animals to study physiology and to test the drugs themselves. I'm sure that its a lot easier to get a thousand rats to test a new drug than to get a thousand consenting humans.
Even though animal testing is a necessary evil, the industry could probably do with stricter regulations and possible site visits to check the quality of the facility.
