A young rabbit sits with his head and body wedged into a metal contraption that holds him in place. He shakes and shivers at the sight of the lab workers approaching him with a myriad of tools that he knows they will use to poke and prod at him. But instead of just that, the young rabbit is injected with a new serum that is currently being evaluated for safety issues. A few days later, the injected rabbit becomes severely ill and passes away after having a violent reaction to this new serum. Was that young, innocent life worth the insignificant product that you just HAD to buy, but then threw away just a few days later?

According to Animal Offenders International, an animal dies in a United States laboratory every second. This statistic implies that in a single day, 86,400 animals meet their unfortunate and sadistic ends at the hands of lab workers for often worthless products. “During my medical education, I found vivisection horrible, barbarous, and above all, unnecessary.” Said Dr. Carl Jung, the widely known founder of psychotherapy.

Animal testing, also known as vivisection, is a process that is performed in relation with the testing of chemical, drug, food and cosmetic tests, biology lessons, and medical training exercises. The exact number of mice, rats, birds, and cold-blooded animals, who make up about 95% of animals used in many experiments, cannot be accurately given because these animals are not covered by the very minimal protections and codes of the Animal Welfare Act, and therefore go uncounted. These animals are often blinded, poisoned, rubbed with corrosive chemicals, fed with pesticides, and forced to inhale dangerous toxins. Many of these tests are not even necessary to pass federal guidelines, meaning that many animals are dying for absolutely no reason.

There are many types of animal tests being conducted. Eye irritancy assesses the level of irritancy of certain chemicals in the eyes of restrained animals. Acute toxicity is a type of testing that tests the danger of exposing a chemical to animals by skin, mouth, and inhalation. Skin sensitization tests allergic reactions that occur after being exposed to certain chemicals. Mutagenicity is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic information of the test subject, which often causes cancer and severe disfiguration. Along with this, there are countless other tests that are constantly being given every time a new substance is released that these companies wish to produce and sell to the public.

These animals have no way of speaking for themselves, and their torment is attributed to you, without you even knowing. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Food And Drug Administration, the National Toxicology Program, and the Department of Agriculture are only a few of the very powerful government agencies that subject these animals to unnecessary pain and suffering. Are you aware that these agencies use your taxpayer dollars for these tests? The federal government and many other health agencies wastefully spend this precious money on producing often misleading and incorrect information instead of using it on studies that are actually relevant to improving the lives of both humans and animals alike. A prime example of this would be the research done on chimpanzees for AIDS research, The National Institute of Health spent over $10 million on researching this virus in relation to chimpanzees, when chimpanzees cannot contract this virus even when infected with it. Oh, and by the way, taxpayers fund the National Institute of Health. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

During an interview with a fellow student, I asked this particular person what their thoughts were on animal testing. “It is inhumane to test on an animal in any way, especially when putting material needs ahead of animal rights. Just because these creatures are not human, does not mean that they shouldn’t have the same rights when it comes to testing. If the test would not be performed on a human being, it should not be performed on any animal.” It is a common thought that animals should not be tested on. The problem lies in the fact that these people are not aware of the depths and reaches of animal testing, and therefore do not think about how it relates to their everyday products.

With modern technology, these tests have become completely wasteful. Many very important improvements have been made without testing, including the first identification of AIDS, benefits of lowering cholesterol, the discovery of penicillin and many other medicines, and the development of x-rays. These improvements prove that animal testing is not necessary for medical reasons with the power of modern technology. “I abhor vivisection. It should at least be curbed. Better, it should be abolished. I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery that could not have been obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing it evil.” Spoke Dr. Charles Mayo, founder of the Mayo clinic.

From the results that I obtained from my survey that I gave to many Woodland Park High School students, I learned that over 90% of the students that I surveyed never check their products to see if they are tested on animals, only about 5% said that they checked “sometimes”, no one said that they “always” check for animal testing on the products they buy. These astonishing results reveal that information must be given proper placement so that all consumers are able to see the pain that their product has caused to the countless innocent animal lives. If consumers were more aware of the facts involving the production of the materials that they use, they would cease to buy these products and influence and promote laboratory abuse of animals.

All companies should be required to present the testing that was involved with their product to the general public, with all honesty. With this information given to the general public, the consumers will have the knowledge that they need to decide if this product is really worth buying. In order to make sure that this information is given out with each product, strict regulations and codes should be put into place for all companies and manufacturers to follow to the letter, and if these codes are not followed, there should be punishments to be followed through with. These provisions would provide a more fair and honest institution that would greatly improve the process of product testing.

Along with this, medical institutions and government agencies should be influenced to research different ways to acquire needed information rather than testing on animals. Instead of wasting money on useless testing, these agencies should spend this money on researching resourceful yet humane ways of testing new products. It should be the responsibility of these agencies to carry out a more safe and secure way of protecting humans and animals alike from these products and their harmful side effects.

So, for the future safety and support of all the Fidos, Fluffys, Spots, and Lassies, all support given to products that cause the testing and killing of lab animals should be abolished and taken away. These creatures are just as important to this planet as we are, and they should be treated that way.