By Shivika nagpal
The NorthCap University
"..estimated number of animals being used for testing worldwide is more than 15 billion but because not every country collects and publishes such information the accurate number is not known. Statistics of some countries reflect the use of more than 3 million animals each year..."
Medical research aims at finding or developing new or improved use of a medicine or medical procedure, which involves a lot of experimentation (trial and terror methods). Before a successful medicine is developed there are a lot of failed medicines too. But the question which arises here is that how do researches know whether a medicine will work on humans or not, or whether the medicine is even fit for human consumption.
The experiments to check the fitness or working of a medicine are conducted on living animals like rats, monkeys, fishes, chimpanzees etc or farm animals like birds, pigs. They are forcefully made to inhale different type of fumes, are injected with drugs, are exposed to chemicals, have surgical procedures performed on them, in addition to this, they are deprived of the basic and natural needs like food and water and are kept in isolated cages which causes physical and mental distress. All these experiments are conducted without providing any pain relief or any veterinary care to these animals. Some die during the process of these experiments or by the end of an experiment, those who survive are not given any treatment and also may be re used for further experiment. For the purpose of identification they are subject to ear chopping or tail chipping.
The shocking reality here is that the medicines or medical procedures developed. By conducting such experiments on animals are in most cases not fit for humans as they have a lot of biological differences, hence what works for animals does not always work for humans. A national cancer doctor in its interview to PETA stated “we cured a mass of cancer for decades, and it simply did not work in humans”[1]. Nobody can imagine the pain and suffering that the mice had gone through all these years for a human experiment, which did not even prove to be of help. It is believed that medicines should be based on things that have evidential value, the animal-based experimentation and testing as a method for developing medicines for human health does not adhere to this standard. It generally has no validity for critical examination and is a hit and trial method.
There are also many diseases for which medicines have been tested on animals for decades despite this no progress can be seen for example millions of people suffer from asthma, a study shows that more than eight thousand drugs for the same has been tested on animals, but only two of them have proven to be successful in the last 50 years. This scenario is same for other major human illnesses as well. For years the testing of such procedures has been conducted on animals which have now been proven to have a restrictive understanding.
Despite the fact that animals are protected under animal protection laws, there is no protection given to animals used in laboratories for testing. The estimated number of animals being used for testing worldwide is more than 15 billion but because not every country collects and publishes such information the accurate number is not known. Statistics of some countries reflect the use of more than 3 million animals each year, but this number does not include animals bred for research but killed as “surplus” without being used for specific experimental procedures. Although these animals still endure the stresses and deprivation of life in the sterile laboratory environment, their lives are not recorded in official statistics. Complete transparency about animal use is vital and that all animals bred, used or killed for the research industry should be included in official figures.[2]Although animals are very similar to humans, their body may not react to a medicine same as that of humans. Some diseases which are found in human body are not found in animal body, to test for such diseases, there is artificial creation of disease in the animal’s body. This practice of artificial creating a disease and animal’s body also has scientific limitations. Even if human genes are inserted into an animal’s body it will function differently from that of humans
Using animals for testing is a moral wrong; it is also true that they cannot be completely removed from the laboratory until an alternative is found as they would hamper the development of new and vital treatments. The reason such experiments are conducted on animals is that there are no other close alternatives available. However, these experiments do affect the quality of life of these animals; this can be controlled by implementing proper laws. Till the time there is no next best alternative available for animal testing, it can at least be ensured that animals in laboratories given good care. The researcher must use the alternative option wherever available for experimentation, and should also ensure that the same researches are not being carried out by many people; they can also ensure that proper care is being given to these animals so that there is less stress pain and suffering. They should follow the three R’s of animal testing, these are replace, reduce and refine.
National Research Council in United States stated that in future virtual testing could be conducted as there is an explosive growth in computer power. Animal experimentation is not essential for medical research and there is no scientific evidence for the same, the chances of failures of medicine are more than that of working in humans, then why is there a need to make these voiceless creatures suffer for our ostensible growth. Animal testing has over the years has been proven to be time and resource intensive. One cannot be proud of the medical development, if the animal used for experimentation is not treated properly. It is the duty of the state to ensure that there is proper care given to such animals because ultimately state is the one which would benefit if the experiments are successful. The response and symptoms of these treatments in the body of animals are not similar to that of humans. Hence, a medicine that appears to be safe for animals fails if used on humans
The technological advancements have resulted in development of new tools and expanded their thinking capacity which can help to understand virtually how the chemicals or drugs disrupt normal processes in human body at the level of cells and molecules. These predictions would be more relevant then animal testing but there is a lot to cover before we can benefit from this technology. The failed experiment disproves the long-standing claims that animal experiment is necessary to enhance human health and is ethically justified. This can also need the researchers into a totally insignificant and irrelevant direction. Such information also harms humans, thereby exposing them to unnecessary risk and health problems and also leads to wastage of useful resources.
Animals have always formed an important aspect of human lives since the ancient times. Animals came way before humans; it was their land, their earth. The animals are like our ancestors, they shared with us what was theirs, they provided us with so much, yet we feel entitled to use them for our benefit. The resources must be directed into creating something which is more accurate and can replace animal testing. It is also important to recognise the inherent genetic differences among humans and animals which are a barrier to such experiments.
[1]Article on facts and statistics about animal testing, available at: www.peta.org (last visited on 23 Nov, 2022) [2]Article on: About Animal Testing, available at: www.hsi.org (last visited 23 Nov, 2022)
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