Medical testing on animals…in 1965
This ending to this article just broke my heart. I’m all for medical breakthroughs, but not at the expense of animals, even today. It is not our place or our right to do anything to another animal who has no voice or choice in the matter. I understand that medical procedures should be tested on something before being released for mass use, but animals are not the answer and never have been in my opinion. That’s true for medicine, cosmetics, lotions, creams, etc. There are plenty of people in prison who have taken the lives of other humans, why not test things on them? That way, you could solve two problems at once…..see if the procedure works AND see if it works in humans.
So many people in this world feel that what I just proposed is monstrous. And yet, these same people are perfectly fine with testing painful horrifying procedures on helpless animals who have no voice to even shout their refusal or pain. How is this possible? Whoever thinks that humans are somehow the top of the food chain or “civilized” is utterly and completely wrong. We are no more civilized or incapable of doing horrific things to each other than any other animal is in the animal kingdom. In that sense, we are but animals ourselves. But what really sets us apart from animals used in testing is that we can vocally tell someone if we are in pain. Outside of someone knowing an animal well enough to see the signs of pain, animals cannot do this and therefore, are helpless to protect themselves or ensure any comfort for themselves.
For those who want to say that using animals instead of people to test on saves people’s lives. Sure it does….not only in the finalized procedure, but also in the testing phase as well. But at the expense of another life. We are no different than animals when it comes to quality of life in my opinion. Many people try to say that animals don’t have as high of a cognitive mental capacity or awareness as humans do. Really? I find that hard to believe considering there are so many examples of this in the animal kingdom. Elephants who mourn an elephant who has died in their herd, primates who hold another primate who had died in their arms, dolphins and whales who mourn the passing of a fellow pod or family member, and yes, dogs who grieve for the passing of another fellow dog. You see this in households all over the world in fact. I feel very blessed to live in the times I do when it comes to animals rights in that there are more now than there has ever been. But I will not be happy until cruelty to all animals who have no choice stops completely.
