Is Animal Testing Necessary?

At any time across the country, laboratory animals undergo animal testing, but many Northwest students and staff members question if animal abuse is a medical necessity.

“I think [animal testing] is immoral,” said sophomore Avaree McQuisten.

This opinion corresponds with the 52% of Americans who oppose animal testing, according to statistics from the Pew Research Center. Many question the morality of forcing animals to undergo testing. Animals are kept in laboratories and are exposed to several different environments, that range from diseases to lack of nutrients or chemical injections.

“The animals are never to suffer, if we can avoid it,” stated Lori Walker, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Colorado.

At the University of Colorado, the use of animal testing is strictly regulated. The laboratory animals are given veterinary care when necessary. To use animals in their research they have to justify using animals instead of alternative methods.

“With some things you can test [substances] on tissue, that’s not necessarily the whole animal,” said, Jena Kline, a biology and anatomy teacher at Northwest.

The use of tissue, instead of an animal, is a promising alternative to animal testing. Human skin tissue can replace the use of rabbits in irritation tests. This allows scientists to understand how humans will respond to a substance, not the reaction of a rodent.

McQuisten said, “You don’t know how accurate that information is going to be between a mouse and a whole human being.”

The ability to measure a disease’s or medicine’s effects would be reduced due to the biological differences. For example, if the toxicity of chocolate was measured based on a dog’s response to it, the assumption would be that chocolate is toxic.

Dr. Walker stated, “Obviously a mouse is not a man, but they still have a heart, the basic cardiac function is the same and the proteins are very, very similar.”

While species are different, mammals have similar characteristics, like the cardiac system. Studying another mammal, even a mouse, helps scientists understand the human body. Subsequently, almost every single medical advancement has occurred due to animal testing. 

Whether wanted or not, animal testing will continue until there are more accurate alternatives to represent the human system.