Why Is Animal Testing Unnecessary

Animal testing is cruel, unjust, and wasteful, and it needs to stop. It is used to test cosmetics, to gain scientific knowledge, and for tests in schools. The Humane Society states that animal testing is tests performed on live animals for basic biology, medicinal, safety, or health research. Even small procedures have the capabilities to cause the animal high stress or discomfort. Some animals are used in future experiments, but most are killed soon after the tests. (About Animal Testing) The animals are often raised in captivity, specifically for experimentation and are killed after the tests. In the article “New Technologies Could Eliminate the Need for Animal Experimentation”, Andrew Rowan writes that animals are used for testing drugs,

Those statistics come from the US Department of Agriculture (New Technologies). Many argue that animal testing is not helpful and unnecessary. According to Andrew Rowan, “Aside from the ethical issues [animal testing] pose[s]--inflicting both physical as well as psychological distress and suffering on large numbers of sentient creatures--animal tests are time- and resource-intensive . . . provide little understanding of how chemicals behave in the body, and . . . do not correctly predict real-world human reactions.” (New Technologies) The animals in labs behave differently and more strangely than animals in the wild, and it is regarded as normal. One career researcher assumed that monkeys rocking back and forth in captivity is something that “they just do” (New Technologies). The animals are emotionally stresses, which can upset the results of the experiments- yet another reason why we should not use animals in laboratory tests. “They experience ongoing mental and physical suffering from the endless boredom. Confinement, fear, and emotional stress of daily laboratory life. Add to this fear and agony of a procedure, and only then can we start to understand the desperation and pain in which they live, every day—and for most, their entire lives.” (New

About 6-12 million animals are killed for dissection annually in the US. Some schools use “ethically sourced” animals, including by-products of the food industry, like pigs, or cats that were euthanized in shelters. However, the most commonly used animal used in dissection labs, frogs, are raised specifically to be killed and sent to schools for dissection. Sharks and many varieties of fish that have been captured and killed are also sold biological supply companies for money. (Dissection in the classroom). Students do not need dissection to gain knowledge. Dissection also has negative consequences on the environment. The local frog populations in many states and countries are growing dangerously small. This has caused some places including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Canada to outlaw the harvesting of frogs (Dissection in the Classroom). Dissection is teaching students that animal life in unimportant. “Educators that insist on using animal specimens rather than non-animal alternatives as teaching tools miss a valuable opportunity to teach their students about humane education and are not implementing the 3R’s principle—reduction, refinement, and replacement—regarding the use of animals” (Dissection in the