Alternatives to Animal Testing  
      According to Animal Testing and Alternatives, an estimated 27 million animals in the U.S. are used in research, testing, and education each year.  About half of these are used for testing including drugs.  That is an estimated 14 million animals.  The word “estimated” is used because data is not complete on the number used in each of these three areas.  The reason is because only primates like cats and dogs are required by the Animal Welfare Act to be reported, so other animals like rats, mice, and birds, (which account for about 90% of all lab animals) are not included in the actual annual figures.  So who knows the exact number of animals being used.
     A big part of opponents of animal testing arguments deals with the many alternatives that are available instead of testing animals.  They argue that with all these alternatives we are definitely crossing the line because there are alternatives to finding cures and making sure products are safe.  In fact to see a whole list of alternatives click here now!
     Along with all of the alternatives the main guideline for these is what is know as The Three “R’s” of Animal Testing Alternatives.  In fact the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires researchers proposing the use of vertebrate animals in research consider alternative methods if these procedure might cause more than momentary or slight pain to the animals.  The three “R’s” are as follows: Refine existing test methods, Reduce animal usage, or Replace animals as test systems.  The AWA also requires that researchers not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments and that they provide a written narrative of sources consulted in order to fulfill these requirements.
     The thing that really irritates opponents of animal testing is the fact that there is no law that requires products to be tested on animals.  Therefore, these opponents strongly believe that sophisticated alternatives are available and most of the large producers of personal care and household products could adopt these methods which are more cost effective, better predicators of human injury, produce far quicker results, and do not involve animal cruelty.
     Also many of these alternatives have been proven more reliable and even less expensive than the actual animal tests themselves.  Plus, these alternatives are definitely more humane.  One of the most dreadful tests is a test that involves rabbits.  It is known as the Draize Eye test.  Instead of using the live rabbits for this test, corneas from eye banks or sophisticated computer models can be used instead to test irritancy levels.     

We all know that it is very difficult to do tests without causing pain, right?  Well, to learn about a new approach and test that is being done to stop pain in testing click here now.
 

This page was made by Stacy Kohle, a student at Wayne State College, on April 20, 1999.  If you have any questions or comments e-mail me at stkohl02@willy.wsc.edu.