Animal Experimentation

Throughout history a peculiar relationship has existed between humans and animals. Some cultures and religions worship animals. Egyptians worshipped cats and Hindus consider the cow to be sacred. Contemporary society watches animals with awe and loves them, yet sometimes we chose to destroy them.

As far back as man can trace history we have elevated ourselves above all other creatures. The relationship that exists has always been one in which the human-animal receives the most benefits, often at a high cost to the other beings.

In the seventeenth century René Descartes theorized that animals were no more than "cleverly built machines" that they had 'no feelings or conscious responses and therefore could in no way be compared to humans" Thus began the process of vivisection. This involves cutting open live animals. Early scientists would nail the animals feet/paws to a board and then nail the board to the wall. They would then proceed to cut the animal open in order to observe the circulatory system and internal organs.

One appaled witness to these "experiments" stated that the same scientists who conducted the vivisection also tormented these animals. They beat the animals with clubs, laughing and spitting on them when they cried out in fear and pain.

In the nineteenth century Charles Darwin helped change these beliefs. In his work on the Origin of Speciesand the Descent of Man he presented the theory that man had come from primitive forms. This meant that humans and animals had a direct link to each other. This helped initiate change in the behavior towards animal cruelty.

Although very few people spoke out against the suffering of animals during that time, there were those who expressed passive opposition towards animal cruelty. Today though, animal rights activists have become more aggressive. Demonstrations, boycotts, laboratory break-ins and the destruction of laboratory equipment has caused researchers to become defensive. They now must justify their experiments to the public.

We have come a long way since the seventeenth century. Today there are laws governing the use of animals in laboratories. Ontario's Animals for Research Act requires that all research establishments are registered and properly regulated. The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) provides guidelines for using animals in research, teaching or testing of any kind. All of these institutions must meet CCAC standards. During the past decade the number of animals used in medical research has dropped from four million to two million per year. The question of ethics is often lurking at the edge of any discussion on animal research.

Cruelty or science?

The statement is often used that if the slaughter house were made of glass most people would be vegetarians. If research labs were made of glass most people would be horrified. The general public does not want to see the inside of a slaughter house, they are aware of what goes on and wish not to be confronted with it. In the case of research laboratories, however most people are unaware of what goes on behind the closed doors. The labs are kept secretive and in most cases off limits to visitors. Could this be because the people involved in these tests know that the testing would be stopped if people knew what went on?

Chimpanzees, our closest genetic cousins are strapped into chairs and their skulls are crushed. They are held for days and weeks at a time in restraining devices. Often the animals cannot move their arms or legs and are hooked up to electrodes that deliver foot shocks for misbehavior. Out of hundreds of chimps injected with the HIV virus one contracts it and this is applauded as a medical brekthrough. Other primates are strapped into chairs for days to avoid the inconvenience of researchers having to handle them, even for procedures as simple as blood withdrawal.

Cancerous tumours are grown in the animals. Cats, dogs, pigs and many other animals are victims of vivisection (which today has little if any scientific value). Painful procedures are tested on these animals without the use of an anastetic. Often the animals vocal cords are cut so they cannot cry out in pain or fear during these procedures.

The animals have been removed from their natural environment. The conditions which the animals are being 'treated' for are almost always induced as they are not diseases that would naturally occur in their species. They are housed in unnatural and stressful conditions. The undue stress the animals experience suppresses their immune systems, making the results inaccurate. In the case of cancer research, tumours found in animals are of a completly diffrent nature than those found in humans.

To take the results from these tests and apply them to humans is risky at best. Perhaps this is why within the past decade many drugs such as phenacetin, E-feral, oraflex, zomax, suprol and selacryn were taken off the market after causing death, kidney disease, liver disease and other life threatening problems. In fact over half the drugs which were approved for use between 1976 and 1985 had to be taken off the market because of serious side effects.

New drugs are constantly being overlooked because of the inaccuracy of animal tests. One example of this is the drug taxol. This drug which was derived from the Pacific Yew tree was discovered thirty years ago. It was ignored because it had only been moderatly active in animal tests. In 1989 studies in humans proved that the drug taxol melted away breast, ovarian and lung cancers which remained untouched be chemotherapy. Unfortunately by that time so many Pacific Yew trees had been burned by loggers that the tree had become rare.