Those who adopt the extreme philosophy of animal rights – which equates the life of an animal with the life of a human – argue that animal-based research is inhumane, duplicative, and unnecessary. They are the source of many misconceptions about the use of animals in research. Unfortunately, some people who have heard these points over and over again from animal rights groups now believe they are true.
It is a fact that animals have played a vital role in every major medical advancement in the last 100 years and that we would not enjoy the quality of life we do today without the use of animals in biomedical research. Here are just a few facts you should know:
Animal welfare groups promote the well-being and humane treatment of all animals. In contrast, animal rights groups believe that animals should have the same moral rights and legal status as humans. The leaders of these groups wish to ban the use of animals for food, clothing, companionship, transportation, sport and entertainment as well as in biomedical research. In other words, they wish to sever all human - animal relationships.
Animal research is heavily regulated. The U.S. Animal Welfare Act (AWA) establishes high standards for the care of research animals. Federal regulations provide strict requirements concerning housing, veterinary care, pain alleviation, and oversight.
In some types of research, alternatives to animal use are available and are scientifically viable. These alternatives, computer models, tissue cultures and epidemiological studies have made significant contributions to advances in human and animal health.However, in other cases, these methods simply cannot be used as a substitute for studies in a living system.
The majority of animals used in biomedical research do not feel significant pain or distress.According to recent USDA records, ninety-four percent experience no pain or slight or momentary pain - such as a pinprick, or receive anesthesia and postoperative painkillers.
When animals are used, valid scientific results depend on good animal care. Aside from being compassionate people, researchers have a scientific obligation to ensure that only healthy and stress-free animals are used. The bottom line is: good animal care = good science.
Unnecessary research is not supported. Only one in four grant requests made of the National Institutes of Health makes it through an extensive and rigorous review process to receive funding, therefore, duplicative or pointless research has little chance of support. However, basic scientific method does require that the results of an experiment be reproducible before a proposition is confirmed. Experiments that cannot be reliably reproduced are generally not considered to provide useful scientific evidence.
Lost and stolen pets are not used in research. It is illegal in all 50 states in the U.S.for stolen animals to be sold or used for research purposes. The majority of research animals are specifically bred for laboratory use, so the chance of a lost or stolen pet ending up in a research facility is extremely rare. Please consider asking your veterinarian to insert a microchip into your pet to increase the chances it may be returned to you should it run away or be stolen.
