April 24, 2012 - World Day for Laboratory Animals

Same day - April 24 - every year. This has been going on for decades.
I know some lab animal experiments are needed to help humans.
But I also know there is a whole lot happening that aren't necessary.
ATS .... are you for or against Lab animal experiments? What do you say??

International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals

•The International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA) was founded in 1969 and is against all experiments, animal testing, vivisection and procedures performed on laboratory animals.

•We are the only organization concerned solely with animal testing which has consultative status with the United Nations.

•The IAAPEA established "WORLD DAY FOR LABORATORY ANIMALS" in 1979, which is now a focal point for Actions Worldwide

Deccan Chronicle - World Lab Animal Day Today

Behind every medicine that cures diseases in humans is the untold suffering and sacrifice of animals. Therefore, city scientists have decided to celebrate “World Laboratory Animal Day” on Tuesday to commemorate the sacrifices made by these noble creatures, popularly called “lab animals,” in improving the environment, quality of life and furthering science. The National Centre for Laboratory Animal Scien-ces located at National Institute of Nutrition campus here will hold a national symposium on “Laboratory animal sciences in the new millennium — challenges and solutions” to mark the occasion.

Ironically, the NCLAS is one of the largest animal suppliers in the country. It supplies about 50,000 animals to around 175 laboratories and institutions in India. This year’s World Laboratory Animal Day is celebrated in the wake of the Central government banning use of animals in experiments in educational institutions. “Countless monkeys, dogs, rats and other animals are burned, blinded, cut open, poisoned, starved and drugged behind closed laboratory doors. Not only are animal tests extremely cruel, they are also pretty inaccurate because of the vast physiological variations between species,” says a statement by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA]

Veggies.org.UK

World Day for Laboratory Animals is a United Nations recognized day of international commemoration of the suffering and killing of millions of innocent sentient beings in laboratories throughout the world.

Campaigning organisations in the UK and across the globe, will mark World Day for Laboratory Animals, a time to reflect upon the pain and suffering caused to millions of animals all in the name of a fraudulent scientific practice - a practice that is not only is so cruel to the animals so horribly abused and killed by vivisectors but a practice that so cruelly gives false hope to those with illness and disease.

Other info -
World Day for Lab Animals March - UK
Animal Aid - article from 2007
National Anti-Vivisection Society

More info - from both sides of the discussion - on this subject ...

What the ASPCA says about lab animal experiments found here .

How Many Animals Are Used in Research?

It's impossible to know exactly how many animals are being used in research because U.S. laws do not require scientists to report how many mice, rats, or birds they use. But even though no one is sure how many rats and mice are used in research, most sources agree that about 90 percent are rats and mice.

There are many animals that scientists do have to report using in experiments, including dogs, cats, sheep, hamsters, guinea pigs, and primates. Of the animals that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) collects numbers on, 1,438,553 were used in research in 2002.

Since more than 1.4 million mammals other than rats and mice were used in research, and since mice and rats probably make up 90% of the animals in labs, we can guess that about 14 million rats and mice were used in research in 2002. That means that more than 15 million warm-blooded animals are used in research every year.

Daily Illini - Lab Animal Testing can help save human lives

The public is torn between protecting lab animals and saving human lives. Paul McKellips, executive vice president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research, spoke at the College of Veterinary Medicine on Monday regarding animal use in research.

Speaking in support of animal research, McKellips said there are numerous benefits that have come from animal experimentation, including the development of treatments for life-threatening diseases.

“Twenty-five years ago, a young lady who gets diagnosed with breast cancer has just gotten a death sentence, and now, she may get cured. We have made such great strides and progress,” McKellips said.

PETA - Animal Testing is Bad Science

Animal experimenters want us to believe that if they gave up their archaic habit, sick children and other disease and accident victims would drop dead in droves. But the most significant trend in modern research in recent years has been the recognition that animals rarely serve as good models for the human body.

Studies published in prestigious medical journals have shown time and again that animal experimenters are often wasting lives—both animal and human—and precious resources by trying to infect animals with diseases that they would never normally contract. Fortunately, a wealth of cutting-edge, non-animal research methodologies promises a brighter future for both animal and human health. The following are some statements supporting animal experimentation followed by the arguments against them.

American Association of Labratory Animal Science

How can research results derived from animal testing be extrapolated to humans?

There are striking similarities between the physiological systems of humans and various species of animals. For example, much of what we know about the immune system has come from studies with mice, and much of what we know about the cardiovascular system has come from studies with dogs. Research results from animals also provide the information necessary to design human trials that must be completed for legal approval of new devices, drugs or procedures. It is important to be able to gauge how a new drug or procedure will affect a whole biological system before using it on humans. This is critical for scientific as well as ethical reasons. Laboratory animals are an integral part of the research process. In fact, virtually every major medical advance of the last century is due, in part, to research with animals.

Interesting .. what PETA says and what the American Association of Labratory Animal Science says are directly opposite of each other. Is that because PETA doesn't know what it's talking about but the professionals at the AALAS do? Or is it because those at the AALAS want to keep their funding and their jobs and what PETA says is really more accurate? How do we know?

I am 100% against the use of animals of any species for testing of any sort.I believe that if testing is required to determine the safety/suitability of a product for human use,let it be tested on a human.
I really don't understand what goes on in the mind of those who advocate animal testing .

Unfortunately there is a lot of wasted testing on animals. Different big pharma groups and pesticide groups do the same testing but can't (won't) share cost/results with each other because of money making issues. I'm wondering how many critters could be spared pain and suffering if there was some way to get around the redundant testing.

reducing redundant animal testing of pesitcides
Animal testing redundant in 20 years

I'm against animal testing.

I can't imagine entering into a career with dreams of curing the masses, only to perform vivisection after vivisection on many different kinds of animals while listening to them scream. I would not be the same person walking out of that lab as I was walking in. The torture of animals is one argument. The creation of human beings encouraged to bypass their capacity for empathy in order to earn money is another. There isn't a winner.

Really the FDA is to be blamed for this, along with the other health advisory governmental organizations (Health Canada, etc). These are the reasons that animal testing is so common. They FORCE animal testing on the companies who would otherwise probably just rather test their inventions on willing human volunteers. I can think of many examples of this. One in particular from a paper called Sunday Trust:

A Nigerian discovered cure of diabetes? His drug is just bitter leaf! –Dr #tu

Quoted from the article above:

In doing the work, I was stopped from using animals because animals have rights there. When I gave this extract to the animals, they began to lose weight. Weight loss in diabetes is a very good thing. If they lose weight they fared better. Even the insulin requirement is reduced. And then the authorities were not happy that they animals were losing weight. I was stopped from doing further animal experiments and that was when I started using tissue culture. I used the invitro-test screen to test all the plants I brought.

He received a patent for his treatment, and called it Steroidal Medicament for the Treatment of Diabetes- US Patent Number 6531461. The US FDA wouldn't approve his treatment, because he had no animal testing done to verify that this treatment indeed works.

Here's more specific info on the patent from Rex Research:

www.rexresearch.com...

To make a long story short, since Nigeria doesn't allow animal testing, the US FDA basically banned him from continuing his research because of the fact that he never cut out the pancreases of helpless animals and tested the treatment on them.

In this case, I wouldn't be mad so much at the laboratories or the scientists who do the testing, as much as the Governmental organizations who order the animal testing before it can ever be tested in humans.

If the health "watchdogs" like the FDA didn't require all this vigorous torture to animals, then it wouldn't be near as much of a problem as it is today.

Star and Flag to your post OP, I totally agree that animal testing is immoral. We must look at why this is a problem though, before we are so quick to judge the scientists and companies who perform these animal test rituals which are governed by organizations like Health Canada and the US FDA.

I'm surprised that more people here at ATS weren't partaking of World Day for Laboratory Animals ... or at least talking about it or writing letters etc. This is a conspiracy site and the fact that there is so much redundancy in animal testing for products and drugs should have people paying attention to this situation.

Oh well ...

I held them in my thoughts, yesterday and today even. I think about those poor helpless creatures often, because I am type 1 diabetic. I KNOW there's a cure out there somewhere, and I wish that the health mafia (FDA, etc). would let some of those things be available to the public with OUR consent, rather than THEIRS.

You got my attention FlyersFan. I'm glad that you brought this topic up I agree that people need to be more sensitive for the ~15 million or more creatures that are mercilessly tortured to death every year.

I'm very happy that you brought this topic up, and I agree that it's sad that it didn't get more attention on ATS. This is a topic I've been wanting to surface on ATS for quite some time, and you did just that. Thanks!