Are you worth it?

The date June 29th, 2013 will be remembered by animal welfare activists throughout India. This was the day when India joined Israel and many other EU countries to ban cosmetic testing on animals, and became the first South Asian country in doing so. But many still are unaware of the horrors of animal testing, and many still support it in the name of science. Here's something which attempts to bring things into perspective.

 

 How would you feel if you had irritants dripped onto your eyes without any pain relief? Or forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine what dose causes death? Well this is exactly what more than 50,000 animals go through daily in the name of "advancement of science" or "medical research".

A practice which has been around since 4th century BCE in Greece, "animal testing" or "vivisection" is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as "Operation on a living animal for experimental rather than healing purposes; more broadly, all experimentation on live animals". 

The friction between pro and anti vivisectionists dates back to the brown dog affair in the early 1900s, when hundreds of medical students clashed with anti-vivisectionists and police over a memorial to a vivisected dog. 

Many justify animal testing saying that animals are biologically a lot like humans. Well in that case I ask why is it morally accepted to test on animals and not humans? And we will certainly not ignore the fact that 92 percent of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they are too dangerous or don’t work.

Over the years, many alternatives to animal testing have developed like computer modelling and cell cultures. Although these methods are still not as accurate as animal testing (which itself cannot be considered accurate), they certainly don't involve killing your conscience. And with a greater number of countries now banning animal testing, we can surely hope for rapid development in these alternatives.

India has set up an example in SE Asia in this regard. And with the efforts of organizations like PETA, PFA, HSUS and ALF (whose methods may be controversial, but I find then effective and worthwhile) to pressurize universities to stop animal testing and airliners to stop transport of animals for research purposes (with notable successes), I have to feel that days with animal free labs are near.

Just make sure that you only buy products not tested on animals, and if you do, just ask yourself if you are worth the pain and suffering of a sentient being.

Your views in the comments :)

Is animal testing acceptable in any form?

• Yes
• No