Using Animals For Testing And Experiments

Animals have been on earth much longer than we have, and have always roamed places of the earth we have dreamed of seeing. The topic of animals being used in experiments, as entertainment, and stuck in zoos has been popular and is constantly being brought up. However, nothing is really ever done to make a change. Every year about 100 million animals die from experimentation, and many more from entertainment and being stuck in small cramped places. In the wild, we never see a lion jump a hoop of fire or an elephant walk on a tightrope, so we certainly should not expect it in the real world. Since animals cannot speak for themselves, it is up to us to help them. Many animals are going extinct, soon many, of our new generations will not remember what hippos or giraffes are or how they looked. Animals should not be used for experimentation, with all of our new technology, there are multiple ways to experiment without torturing poor animals. Animals being used as entertainment used to be a big thing; however, times have changed, and many have turned their heads at the spectacles saying the animals are given cruel treatment and are not adequately taken care of. Zoos are similar to circuses where animals are forced to do cruel acts and are laughed at and not given the right amount of attention for their needs. Animals are not actors and are being abused every day, they deserve the same rights as us and should be allowed to stay where they are born, and live out their lives without being touched or harmed by us.

Companies like Origins, MAC, Clinique, Aquafresh, and Sensodyne, all experiment on animals. Countless other companies regularly use animals to make sure their products are safe for us to use. When animals are tested on, they must endure much pain, the most frequent animals used in testing are rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, birds, and monkeys. We as consumers are not always aware of what companies do and do not test on animals. However, we must be informed about what happens when an animal is tested and why we need to stop it. In the article “Cruelty to Animals in Laboratories,” written by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), they go into depth about how an animal feels when tested on, “Imagine living inside a locked closet without any control over any aspect of your life. You cannot choose when and what you eat, how you will spend your time, whether or not you will have a partner and children, or who that partner will be. You cannot even decide when the lights go on and off. Think about spending your entire life like this, a prisoner, even though you have committed no crime. This is life for an animal in a laboratory. It is deprivation, isolation, and misery”( PETA, 1). Animals are treated with so many chemicals for your face creams, body lotions, perfumes, and countless makeup products; it needs to be stopped. About 100 million animals die each year, are we ready for a world with no animals if we keep this going. Since more and more people have started going against animals being treated, companies have started to eliminate testing on any animals and proclaim they are cruelty-free. Instead of using animals to test, we should be using other resources such as human testing with cells and tissues. The main reason animal testing is a significant factor in many companies is the ensure safety if and when they are sued they have data to help back their reasoning which can be proven to be stronger than human testing. Animal testing can also be costly, a couple of years ago, government-funded animal testing cost U.S. taxpayers 16 billion dollars for animal testing. Scientific discoveries have been made, and technology has developed, it is our turn to use it and create a safer way to test our products that is not on animals.

Entertainment companies use animals for shows, and many of the animals are bought from zoos, the same places that vow to keep animals safe. In an article reprinted by the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation center, they stated, “Animals are abused and exploited in a variety of forms of ‘entertainment.’ In circuses, elephants, lions, tigers, and other animals are sentenced to a lifetime of misery to provide a few moments of human amusement” (Wildlife Rescue 1). Animals are given some of the worst treatment, often dying because of injuries from entertaining. A few examples of animals that are mistreated are cows and horses; they are hurt with electrical prods and jerked side to side, which leads to broken necks, hemorrhaging, and broken legs. Horses used for racing are forced to run even when injured, increasing the number of horses sent to the slaughter by thousands. Dogs have started to be used in entertainment, similar to horses where they are used to run races in competitions. They live in the same small wire cage, which is so tight that they cannot turn around. Similar to horses again, greyhounds in specific are sent to the slaughter if considered not fast enough. The entertainment industry is disgusting and needs to be illegal. In the wild, we do not see animals running around competing, jumping up and down for treats, jumping through hoops, or doing anything from circuses. These industries do not care for the well-being of animals all they want is money. It is about time these people are stopped and these animals be free from this cruel punishment.

Many may argue that zoos have changed over time, and some have helped many endangered species survive and have helped nurse them back to life. Some zoos raise fundraisers for animals that are hurt and cannot live in the wild alone with no help even common animals have been helped. Cheetahs, giraffes, and lemurs have been some of the few animals that have been helped by animal rescuers. However, I feel that animals should be able to be given the same treatment with more space and better conditions. Some animals from zoos are often not given the most exceptional treatment, they go days with no water or food, and are stuck in the same cage they eat, sleep, and poop in. Some of the animals are not even treated for their injuries. Instead, they are left to suffer in their small cages. In an article by PETA, “Zoos: Pitiful Prisons,” they state that zoos are not places where animals can heal. Instead, they are “collections” of animals that are captured and used for entertainment. Many zoos even work for circuses and give up some animals for the entertainment business. In a roadside zoo in Georgia, there was a chimpanzee named Iris, who was all alone in a small cage for hours and was not allowed to come out. Her space had two blankets, both of which were not washed, the walls of her cage were covered in her feces, and were never given enough food. PETA helped rescue iris from the zoo and now lives on an island that was donated called the sanctuary for chimpanzees. There Iris can be monitored and will not be alone.

The world thrives better with animals; they are our companions on this earth and help us live better in ways we do not know. They have been on earth much longer than we have, protecting their habitats as we destroy them many going days with no food or water and others stuck in labs and cages where they will not ever leave. It is time to make a change and help save all animals, no matter how big or small, they need to be protected for our sake and the worlds they improve our oxygen, water, and soil. Forty-one thousand four hundred thirty-five animals are on the endangered species list, and about sixteen thousand have been declared extinct. Animals are slowly leaving this world, and we will not notice until they are all gone.