I think that most people who protest animal testing aren't protesting medical advancement, but rather things like cosmetic testing and the other useless, cruel and unnecessary 'research' that goes on behind closed doors; the kind of testing and research that does nothing to better or save human lives.

I think that we as humans, with all of the technological (and medical) advances that we have achieved, can find better, much more accurate and cruel-free methods of testing, even when it comes to finding a cure for cancer, and that we already have. Enough so, at least, so that we don't have to rely so heavily on animal testing which I believe is, for the most part, extremely out-dated. I think that where we have alternatives available, they should be used instead, and that all useless and unnecessary animal testing and research should be phased out entirely.

With obvious reasons I clearly do not agree with you at all. But instead of lecturing you on my beliefs and trying but failing miserably to change your opinion on this depressing topic, I will let you read this quote instead. Which by the way is pretty accurate. Unless of course you would like to answer it.

"Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because the animals are like us.' Ask the experimenters why it is morally OK to experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because the animals are not like us.' Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction."
-Professor Charles R. Magel

- Kiera Holloway, Veterinarian

Animal testing as basically nothing to do with the actual progress in medical technology. They only do it because it's a requirement for the thing they're testing to get sold. It plays little role in the actual curing of anything, in fact, it's probably the reason we DON'T have cures for those horrible deseises. It'd be better if you actually research a little before writing something like this.

I don't go for or against animal testing, because quite frankly, my emotions have withered and died. Now I search for truth, and the truth is, most animals are so genetically different from that of humans, most testing isn't even that acurate. A human and a rat are basically nothing alike, and that is why we still have drugs that cause horrible diseases in humans but did not affect the animals in that way. But whatever. None of our oppinions really matter in the long run unless we actually do something about it, which I look up to the animal rights activists for doing.

Thank you. I read this review someone did of Maximum Ride that said it would be good for fighting animal testing. Too bad for them. MR was actually about scientists who experimented on HUMANS mostly, not animals. But this essay was just...amazing! Couple of typos that others have caught, but strong arguments all the way throught. If I'd been against animal testing (which I never was) I would instantly support it after this. If it's curing cancer, I'm all for it!

OMG, but the poor little kittens and bunny rabbites!!1!

Wow, that's three decent pieces of writing today. You people are on a roll. I like you.

I also support animal testing. But I also support DDT, so I might be a bit more radical than you'd like.

The essay itself is good, with plenty of details that sometimes threatened to bore me. However, you state as if support for animal testing was a rarity. It's not. If animal testing was rare, would so many people protest against it? It's just the protesters who get the air time.

There are also several spelling mistakes sprinkled through out the essay. Another editing could weed these out.

Good job. You've given me something to think about. =]

"Very few people will agree with these oppions."

Typo there.

"This is the point when I would be expected to bend with the trend and roundly condemn this little display."

You believe the majority of the populace are against animal testing? I think that's a curious assumption.

"I would probably also be expected to go into gory and mostly invented detail of the suffering of animals in laboratories and ask my readers to imagine their beloved pet in the hands of a bunch of maniac scientists that look suspiciously like extras from The Island of Doctor Moreau."

*chuckles*

"Because that menacing figure in the white coat injecting something into that little whimpering dog, they’re finding the cure for breast cancer, they’re fighting AIDs, they are saving the world."

I strongly support any scientific and medical exploration -- from animal testing to empryonic stem cell research -- that will offer the possibility of advancing our health and perserving my life. Too bad scientists and researchers aren't permitted to do their testings on these animal rights protesters and the stem cell study opponents, because clearly they are the real disease to humankind.

A job well done with this essay.

--tofujunky

I don't have a problem with what you said. The main problem I have with cosmetic testing, and I feel sure that you don't support that. However, Thalidomide was tested on animals and went wrong, so you really do have to be careful with animal testing. It's great that it helps with leprosy though. I hadn't heard that.