Why Stop Animal Testing

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Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the US National Cancer Institute states: “We have cured mice of cancer for decades and it simply doesn’t work on humans.” Jim Mullen, chief executive of Biogen Idec states:” Boy, we can cure mice like nobody’s business, but when it comes to humans we have a harder time.” Radial Keratotomy, a surgery performed to enable better vision without glasses was perfected on rabbits but when tried on human patients, it failed-blinding them. Now I have a couple questions for you: What are we gaining from finding cures to human-like diseases in animals, if most fail when tried on humans? And why do keep doing it if doctors and other professionals keep saying its wrong? Being aware of what truly goes on in animal labs and acting against it will not only save and protect the lives of thousands of animals but it will also help advance the finding of cures for HUMAN diseases and the decrease of lost human lives. Animal experimentation goes back to writing of the Greeks in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. Aristotle and Erasistratus were among the first to perform on living animals. But it wasn’t until the 12th century when Avenzoar- an Arabic physician- introduced animal testing as an experimental method of testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients. Years after, animal testing was no longer being used for only surgical procedures but also for medicines and cosmetics. Next thing the world knew thousands of animals were being killed either in or for animal experimentation. Now more than 100 million animals are poisoned, burned, crippled, and abused in U.S. labs each year and that is only a percentage of all the animals that are truly used, all others (94%) are excluded from the only federal law offering any sort of protection; the Animal Welfare Act, which controls the use of animals in research. So we may never

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