Animal testing and pharmaceutical drug development limitations

Animal Rights and Experimentation

Animal rights are being constantly violated in this day and age. They are being subjected to endless experimentation in order to ensure a healthy life for humans. This is known as vivisection. The local industries use tests, which kill around 50% of the animals during the tests. It is sad to know that tests are still being conducted on animals in spite of having results. Experts have found out that animal testing is unnecessary.

According to PETA, the FDA is to blame for animal rights violation in the U.S. They have made animal testing mandatory for testing of all pharmaceutical drugs. There are no laws to prevent animal experimentation. There are a lot of loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act, as it does not protect the rights of mice, birds and rats. The research facilities have been given a carte blanche to carry out their merciless testing. They have been allowed to make their own choices.

Animal rights activists argue that animals should not be left at the mercy of these research facilities as they feel that the only purpose for animals is that they serve as biological play toys for scientists. There are a number of alternative ways to conduct experimentation without using animals.

Animal Testing: Not beneficial for humans

Scientists believe that medication tested on animals can guarantee safe use for a human being. However that claim can be refuted very easily. Animals are different from human beings. It is useless to conduct tests on animals as they have a different biological system. They have a different anatomy, genetic system, physiology etc. It has never been scientifically proven that a drug tested on an animal is safe for people.

According to Dr. Arie Brecher, "Animals are completely different from humans, and no animal species can serve as an experimental model for man. Each animal has a genetic code of its own, which is a fixed datum, and characteristically unique in each species. For this reason, a method that is based on the similarity between the species, while there are differences, and different genetic codes, can only lead medical science into error." [Brecher, 1989]

This can be proved by an example. A lot of animals were experimented upon to test the drug Softenon. It was cleared for human use after it was found safe on different animals. However it did not seem to have the same effect on humans as they started suffering from deformities.

Scientists tend to use animals for their research, as there are no liabilities. They prefer working with animals rather than humans as they can get unlimited use from them. Scientists don't want to risk harming the lives of a human guinea pig. It has been proved that research for cancer and aids can't be done on animals. The best results are obtained with human beings. The pharmaceutical industry will never give up testing on animals, as there is a lot of profit involved.

Animals are subjected to testing and experimental research. They are used to test for toxicity of drugs and substances such as detergents, cosmetics and pesticides. Not only is animal testing harmful for animals but it also harms the lives of humans.

There are several examples to prove that fact. A proper dosage of Belladonna can kill a person while it would not be harmful to a rabbit and goat. A sheep is able to consume a large quantity of arsenic. A human would not be able to consume even a small amount. Hemlock is a fatal poison for humans. It does not seem to have any effect on mice, goats, sheep and horses.

The researchers tend to ignore the fact that animals have a higher resistance level than human beings. They are able to absorb the effects of toxic materials, which can be hazardous for human beings at the same level.

We should realize that animals have the same rights as human beings. It is unfair to claim that animals don't have any rights. They are not able to understand what their rights are as they are unable to speak or defend their rights. This does not mean that we should violate their rights. Critics feel that animals should be subjected to testing, as they don't respect our animals. They claim that animals such as crocodiles, lions, and tigers kill innocent people. Therefore they have no rights. However they fail to realize that human beings are the same. We do not deny a human being's rights if he/she kills one of his own. This does not give us a valid reason to deny animals their rights. Animals kill other animals as its part of their food chain. This does not mean that we subject them to cruelty.

Animal Testing in the United States

The United States of America uses more than 70 million animals for experiments every year. The government provides around 5 billion dollars towards animal testing. Studies have found out that more than half of the prescription drugs were recalled between 1976 and 1985. These drugs had been approved by the FDA and tested on animals they had serious side effects. These drugs were recalled from the market.

According to an article in the Earth Island journal, Animals are treated in the most inhumane manner. They are subjected to extreme physical and psychological tests. The testing involves drowning, piercing, cutting, burning, freezing, and isolation, cutting, blinding and also subjected to electro shock therapy. It also tells us that animals at the USCF are sued for research in pain, hearing, impotence and smoking.

The article also mentions the fact that the Medical Research Modernization Committee feel that 'Many important medical advances have been delayed because of misleading information derived from animal 'models.' The animal model of polio, for example, resulted in a misunderstanding of the mechanism of infection. Studies on monkeys falsely indicated that poliovirus infects only the nervous system. This erroneous assumption resulted in misdirected preventive measures and delayed the development of tissue culture methodologies critical to the discovery of a vaccine'.

Animal testing in India

Lab animals have been given some protection in western countries. However these rules are grossly violated. These rules are also violated in India. According to the Indian Express, the then minister of state for statistics and program implementation Maneka Gandhi ordered Pune's national institutional to cease animal experimentation in may 2002.

This order was passed after a member of an animal rights group paid a surprise visit and found animals living in a very miserable condition. Most of the animals were living in small dark cages. They were kept in darkness. A lot of the monkeys were sick and suffering from hair loss and skin disease.

It is appalling to know that the NIV covered its back by claiming that at the time of the visit the animal shelter was being rebuilt and that they were suffering from a power cut.

According to the January 2003 edition of the British Medical Journal, maneka Gandhi was sacked from her position of chairwoman of the Indian government's animal experimentation control committee. The article also stated that she was sacked as a result of pressure from the Indian pharmaceutical industry. The article also stated that around 400 out of 467 laboratories did not have any proper facilities for handling laboratory animals.

Maneka Gandhi quoted "the conditions in Indian laboratory animal houses and the practices used in experiments with these animals are among the worst in the world'. She also said 'while millions of animals have been killed in the name of research in India, almost 90 per cent of this research has been useless and has been unnecessary duplication of research already done abroad'.

Cruelty to animals

Animal Rights have been seriously violated in many facilities. The list of findings confirm the wide spread suffering of animals. It was found out that the animals were used without conducting any health or genetic background check. This includes stray dogs and cats. The animals were subjected to extremely filthy and unhygienic conditions. A lot of the animals were subjected to experiments in such conditions. The injured and ailing animals were left to fend for themselves. There was no facility for animal post-operative care. The animals were found to be mutilated, have open wounds or been blinded.

Furthermore it was found out that there was no veterinary official in attendance at the facility since a number of years. A vet is required to relieve the animal of suffering. Most of the vermin (rats and mice) were diseased. They were massively infested with tapeworms and mites. Most of the rats had been blinded during their procedure. The horses were in an even more painful situation as their hooves were infested with bleeding maggots. The officials had used hot irons to brand the horses. There was a lack of proper ventilation or any water supply. There was a lack of proper food and water. Most of the animals were living in small and overcrowded cages. These cages restricted their activity and were extremely dirty and rusty.

The animals were in a state of posttraumatic shock as they were found to be mutilating themselves. The sheep were subjected to extremely brutal procedures as their skulls were drilled to have rabies viruses to check for vaccines. Live frogs were placed into the freezer in order to freeze them.

According to the Billings Gazette 'thirteen monkeys and dozens of hamsters died over the weekend at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton after they were housed in 100-degree heat for several hours'. The report stated that all these animals had died 'from excessive heat after a heater malfunctioned'. The area in which they were kept was meant to have a temperature between 72 and 78 degrees; however the computer controlling the coil heat system failed and 'hot air' was 'piped into the animal wing, where parts of the area reached 100 degrees'. Although an alarm was triggered, this did not alert the security desk and the animal technician 'had gone home for the day' ('Lab animals die from heat', Billings Gazette, 13 February 2004.)