The experiments done on animals are painful no matter what part of the world you go to. But scientists from around the world are particularly shocked when they see the conditions and lack of basic precautions in The United States. But the conditions around the world are nothing to be proud of either. People outside of America may be tempted to think things are not so bad in their own countries – but unless you are a country like Sweden, you don’t have grounds for complacency. Conditions are far closer to The United States than you think. In America there are very lackluster Animal Welfare Laws and they often go unenforced.
When people learn how horrible Animal Experiments are, there are calls to put an end to all Animal Experiments. Such calls have shown no signs of winning over the majority of voters in any country. These types of calls have been made by antivivisectionists since the eighteen hundreds and they have repeatedly failed to persuade the public. We haven’t made any progress until a couple of decades ago. But it was only because of small piecemeal changes, that the changes were able to happen at all. This was because of pressure from animal movements on companies that sold products such as cosmetics. Since then, something strange has happened. Limiting animal experiments has become a little more mainstream, acceptable to openly talk about. Not long ago, it was considered too far into the future to ever become law.
Why has it been so hard to convince the public? It is because many think that ending Animal Experiments would put a halt to all research on diseases that kill people and their children. This is even though Animal Experiments are actually inefficient and wasteful. The changes we’ve made haven’t completely eliminated the problem, but it has spared millions of animals from suffering and dying in labs. For the longest time, the all or nothing approach has just meant nothing for the animals involved. It is true that there are organizations that were once more progressive, but have given up on their values to gain favor here and there; and that they’ve done this so much that their strategies have become ineffectual. You should ignore the talking point of ‘just slow down, you’re moving too fast’ but – – if your only choice is to implement what you want one piece at a time, then you have no other alternative.
One of the most important tools to help animals are Ethics Committees. Especially in The United States, where some of the most basic precautions and Animal Welfare Laws are missing. Ethics Committees help create guidelines for groups of scientists by weighing the benefits gained by humans versus the pain inflicted on the animal. Many Animal Experiments are bizarre, inconclusive, and yield little to no useful results, only a fourth are published. Many operations are done on animals without painkillers. These Committees would require painkillers if an experiment inflicts the same amount of pain where anesthesia would normally be used in a medical or veterinary practice. Ethics Committees are commonplace and considered perfectly reasonable in other countries such as Australia and Sweden.
Nearly all Ethics Committee nowadays would weigh the benefits gained by humans disproportionately to the needs of the animals. By their very nature, they are associated with less radical parts of the movement. Those who want to give more consideration to the animals will find it hard to convince their fellow committee members to do so. Because of this, many people will have nothing to do with Ethics Committees.
Legislators often ignore protests against animal experiments because they are overly influenced by medical, science, and veterinary groups. They don’t have time to gain expertise in these fields so they listen to the opinions of experts. But these groups have a special interest in keeping the Animal Experiments funded and their advice here is unreliable because the question posed isn’t a scientific one, but a moral one. Even scientists who didn’t particularly care for these experiments were required to do them for their PHD’s, or else they had to drop out and find another field. They pass the practice down to their students. People in the field who voice objections are laughed at for being stupid. These groups lobby heavily to keep Animal Experiments. Groups that capture and breed animals, or create devices used to experiment on animals also lobby heavily.
Experimenters will claim that getting rid of Animal Experiments will end all research on diseases that kill people and their children. You can respond by asking if they would be willing to accept the verdict of an Ethics Committee, like the way people do in so many other countries. These contain animal welfare representatives, and weigh the costs to the animals compared to the benefits of the research being done. You point out such committees are considered perfectly acceptable and reasonable in other countries like Australia and Sweden. If they say no, you have proven their previous argument to be a deception. After all, why would they refuse the verdict of an ethics committee, whose members would surely be just as eager as everybody else to see major diseases cured? You will have revealed their actual motivation, which is the ability to do whatever they wish with the animals involved.. If they yes, then you ask for a signed statement requesting the creation of such a committee.
First, we need to implement Ethics Committees. We also need to improve the Animal Welfare Laws we already have, and get them to cover a wider range of animals. These laws need to be given higher priority and actually enforced. For this to happen, Animal Experimentation needs to become a political issue. This has already started to happen in some countries. It would need to be given wider coverage, and for this to happen, we need to draw as much attention as possible. People will need to discuss it more too. It is likely that groups will want to make the switch away from animal experiments anyways, just because other methods of research are much more efficient. This also includes new technologies that make Animal Experiments further obsolete. But then other groups will also lobby in favor of experimenting on animals. Groups need to put more pressure on companies to get them to consider alternatives. More scientists need to speak out against experimenting on animals. There has already been a notable number of scientists doing so. More students need to refuse to dissect animals when they’re asked to do so in the classroom. This is easier nowadays than it used to be. Students have rights they can utilize, and groups they can use for protection. Even though it is easier to do this nowadays – it is still very important. Sometimes, if all else fails, you will have to sacrifice some grade points to do what is right.
Hopefully this article gave you some ideas on how to achieve changes in a society dead set against ending animal experiments.
Have a good day everyone.