Lab Testing on Animals

Animal Rights Animals have been used in medical research for centuries. Most of the animals used for research are rodents such as rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. Some dogs, cats and a variety of goats, ferrets, pigeons, monkeys and rabbits are also used .The struggle against this tyranny is a struggle as important as any of the moral and social issues that have been fought over in recent years. Animal rights are an emotional issue, second only perhaps, to the bitter abortion debate. For decades the value of animal research has been grossly overrated. Although researchers have depended on animal test data to achieve medical advances, there should be other means of research because testing on animals is cruel, inhumane, and often unnecessary. Perhaps it would be more beneficial and humane to test on violent criminals such as rapists, murderers, and others on death row.
The American Medical Association believes that research involving animals is absolutely essential to maintaining and improving the health human beings. They point out, that virtually every advance in medical science in the 20th century, from antibiotics to organ transplants, has been achieved either directly or indirectly through the use of animals in laboratory experiments. They also emphasize that animal research holds the key for solutions to AIDS, cancer, heart disease, aging and congenital defects. Finally, they insist that the result of these experiments has been the elimination or control of many infectious diseases. This has meant a longer, healthier, better life with much less pain and suffering for humans. For many patients, it has meant life it self. Heloisa Sabin, whose husband, Albert Sabin, developed the oral vaccine for polio in 1961, summed up the feelings of many animal researchers in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial. "Those who support an 'animal-rights' agenda that would cripple research and halt medical science in its tracks are slamming the door