Key Points
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More than
2.5 million live animal experiments were authorised in Great
Britain in 2000. This number has halved since the
1970s
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Animals
are used to test products ranging from shampoo to new cancer
drugs
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British
law requires that any new drug must be tested in at least two
different species of live mammal. One must be a large
non-rodent
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Almost
every medical treatment you use has been tested on animals.
Animals were also used to develop anesthetics to prevent human
pain and suffering during surgery
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Does
animal testing work?
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Animal
testing has helped to develop vaccines against diseases
like rabies, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and TB
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Animal
experiments can be misleading. An animal's response to a
drug can be different to a human's |
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Antibiotics,
HIV drugs, insulin and cancer treatments rely on animal
tests. Other testing methods aren't advanced
enough
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Successful
alternatives include test tube studies on human tissue
cultures, statistics and computer models
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Scientists
claim there are no differences in lab animals and humans
that cannot be factored into tests |
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The stress
that animals endure in labs can affect experiments,
making the results meaningless |
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Operations
on animals helped to develop organ transplant and
open-heart surgery techniques |
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Animals are
still used to test items like cleaning products, which
benefit mankind less than medicines or surgery
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Is animal
testing morally right?
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Human life
has greater intrinsic value than animal life |
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Animals
have as much right to life as human beings |
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Legislation
protects all lab animals from cruelty or mistreatment
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Strict
controls have not prevented researchers from abusing
animals |
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Millions
of animals are killed for food every year - if anything,
medical research is a more worthy death |
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Deaths
through research are absolutely unnecessary and are
morally no different from murder |
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Few
animals feel any pain as they are killed before they
have the chance to suffer |
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When locked
up they suffer tremendous stress. Can we know they don't
feel pain? |
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Do you think
animal experimentation is necessary?
Results so far:
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| Yes (3941
votes) |
 41.9%
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| No (5468
votes) |
 58.1%
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What do you know
about animal experiments?
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2002-1900 |
1899-1789
June
2002
UK 'needs GM
research animals'
May 2002
New
animal laboratory receives UK Government
support
April 2002
UK health
minister defends
animal experiments
1997
After
an undercover reporter films at Huntingdon Life Sciences, two
employees are prosecuted under the Protection of Animals Act
for treating dogs with "gross and unnecessary
cruelty"
1996
First World Congress
on Alternatives held in
Netherlands
1992
European Centre
for the Validation of Alternative Methods
founded
1986
Animals Act revised to
include an assessment of pain versus benefit before
experiments begin
1959
Russell and
Burch state the 'three
Rs' of animal
experimentation
1906
Animal rights
riots in London follow the erection of a statue at University
College, London, depicting a lecture on animal
dissection
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