Assignment 16 - William Begley - Speech

William Begley

Have you ever used a product from Clinique, Maybelline, or even Victoria’s Secret, then you’ve used products tested on innocent animals. Animals just like my two pet rabbits. Animals which are often permanently traumatized, injured, or killed during these tests. According to the National Humane Society, between 100 and 200 thousand animals are killed during product testing every year. These animals consist of rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats and mice. And, while not tested on for cosmetics, even dogs and monkeys are tested on for chemical products. This doesn’t even show the magnitude of the animals kept solely for animal testing. According to the USDA, there are more than 20 million birds, fish, rats, and mice kept in laboratories for future testing. These 20 million are animals not covered by the Animal Welfare Act, a bill that is designed to “protect” animals used in animal testing. This act protected animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits, primates, and hamsters from inhumane conditions and severe testing. However, nearly one million of these protected animals are still kept in laboratories for testing. These animals are supposed to be kept in conditions that meet the five animal welfare needs outlined in the Animal Welfare Act of 1966. First is health which means an animal must be protected from pain, injury, suffering, and disease and actively treated if any of these arise. Then there’s behavior which means an animal must have proper access to resources that allow it to live as it would naturally, meaning it must be allowed to fly, run, dig, play, etc. Next is companionship which means an animal must be kept with and or away from other animals depending on what is best. For example, guinea pigs should be kept with at least one other guinea pig as they require social interaction, and dogs must not be placed with a rabbit as it’s dangerous for the rabbit. There is also diet which states that an animal must have access to a proper diet for their species and an adequate supply to avoid obesity or malnourishment as well as access to fresh water. Lastly there's environment which means that an animal must have an adequate space to exercise, hide, and explore for a majority of the time. These points create a strong outline for humane care of an animal but enforcement and punishment for breaking the rules of the Animal Welfare Act as well as the exclusion of intelligent animals such as rats, mice, and birds are what show the weakness of the act. PETA conducted an investigation into Professional Laboratory and Research Services or PLRS which showed there many dogs and cats being used for testing of insecticides and other chemical products while being kept in cages for years. Years where they were unable to have the proper life they deserve. These animals were deprived of social interaction, proper exercise, and any form of fun. Fortunately, PETA filed a complaint with federal authorities and the laboratory was shut down within a week. However, this investigation showed that the government was not enforcing these laws themselves and it was required that an independent organization perform an investigation to bring down just one of these inhumane testing laboratories. While these conditions are terrible for any living being, looking at the conditions for non-protected species is even worse. Animals such as rats, a species that is able to develop unique personalities, remember pain and be scared of it, show empathy, and even live in cohesive groups are not protected to any reasonable amount and are allowed to be killed or permanently harmed by any group during testing. This includes beauty companies that test “new” ingredients on these animals that will regularly kill or deform them even burning off all of their fur or skin while they are still alive. I see this as unethical in every sense, no animal deserves to die for the beauty of a human. While tests for things such as heart disease medicines on dogs and cancer treatments on rats may be necessary to better the lives of other beings, I believe this is the line where we must stop animal testing, only should it be allowed when it will help others live. I propose that a new bill must be passed that not only includes the unprotected animals of the 1966 Welfare Act but also includes harsh punishments for those caught breaking the rules of humane care. This bill would also include checkups similar to that of health inspectors on any laboratory that uses animals for testing every month to ensure proper conditions for all the animals. And I realize that animal testing may be necessary at some points, such as in medical testing, but humane efforts to keep these animals happy should be a priority in any testing facility and not exclude any animal even if it’s labeled as unintelligent. These tests could also be largely avoided by the leaps made recently in both computer and physical simulations of tests which have become more and more accurate. Other alternatives include using In Vitro models which examine products at a microscopic level using cells and don’t harm the animal. And most importantly, there's human volunteering, humans are the end goal for most of the products and testing on humans will always be the best possible test, this also ensures no animal is being tested on against their will for the most ethical testing possible. So next time you think about using that product tested on animals, think about Dog and Kiwi and think about what animals like them go through just to get you that product.

Works Cited

“About Cosmetics Animal Testing.” Humane Society International, 6 Mar. 2013, www.hsi.org/news-media/about_cosmetics_animal_testing/.

“Animal Welfare Act.” NAL, 2006, www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act.

“Fundamentals: Research Animals.” Faunalytics, faunalytics.org/fundamentals-research-animals/.

PETA Board. “Dogs in Laboratories.” PETA, 22 June 2010, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/dogs-laboratories/.

PYCROFT, LAURIE, and HELEN MARSTON. “Is Animal Testing Necessary to Advance Medical Research?” New Internationalist, no. 444, July 2011, pp. 34–36. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid,cpid,url&custid=s1176192&db=a9h&AN=62091081.

“Your Pet's 5 Welfare Needs.” PDSA, 2006, www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/all-pets/5-welfare-needs.