The innocent eyes of a benevolent puppy looking up at you are nothing more than fading memories as the unrecognizable dog, physically and emotionally scarred by animal testing, stares deeply into your eyes with one question, “What did I do to deserve this?” Animal testing is cruel, inhumane, and inaccurate. Whether the testing be done for medical research, or cosmetic research there are certain rights that these animals have and several alternatives in general to this heinous practice. What exactly is animal testing? Animal testing is the use of animals in medical and cosmetic experimentation. According to The Humane Society of the United States, “More than twenty-five million animals are used in research, testing, and education each year” …show more content…
An article on the negative and positive contributions to animal testing stated, “The anatomic, metabolic, and cellular differences between animals and people make animals poor models for human beings” (ProCon.org). Just as plant cells perform differently than animal cells, animal cells perform differently than human cells. The differences, although small, can majorly affect the outcome of these tests. The only way animal testing could be one hundred percent accurate is if we were one hundred percent animal. Another statistic from the same article shows that animals can handle higher doses of certain drugs better than humans can. The drug that this statistic was based on was the sleeping pill thalidomide, which caused ten thousand babies to be born with severe deformities. Thalidomide was tested again on pregnant animals and the experiment only showed signs of deformities when given to the animals in high doses (ProCon.org). These issues that have been found in animal testing may seem small but have a monumental effect on society. The effects of these issues on people is nothing in comparison to the effects we put on animals during every animal based experiment, and just as we have rights that protect our lives, animals should have rights that protect theirs as