TOO MANY LABS!!!

Animal Research is by far one of the oldest and most common type of research
conducted throughout history, possibly starting from early 1500s to be in fact. It began with
men dissecting animals such as dogs, cats, and birds to observe the structure and how their
bodies worked. Then progressing from there more men jumped on the bandwagon for science
and made discoveries as time went on such as vaccines, prosthetics, and how organs
functioned. Before we know it we have lots of men conducting these experiments and the
research that helped humanity thrive throughout history had begun.
Yes, animal research has been a major help to the
advancement of the bio-medical field, medicine,
medical procedures, health studies, etc. There is no
doubt that if it wasnt for animal research we would
not be where we are in these fields today. Although
many of these animal research institutions and labs
have been unethical with the treatment and the
numbers of animals used in research. Today we have
hundreds of millions of animals all around the world
involved, and the question is, Do we really need that
many for research???
For years there have been many animal activists groups and protestors trying to stop animal
testing. In the mid 1900s a principle was emphasized by scientists William Russell and Rex
Burch, called the 3Rs, the 3Rs stand for Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement. This was
an attempt to one day have animals completely removed from animal research and replaced
with an alternative that can provide reliable results.
According to research, alternatives to Animal Testing are being developed. Few Companies
such as The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection have developed a highly
sophisticated laboratory where they can test products on cells such as stem cells or cells of
the specific organs of the intended consumer rather than directly on animals. Of course this
research is fantastic, the only issue is this kind of testing is expensive. Not only is it expensive
to conduct but is quite costly to construct such a lab and team to operate in it, and to top it
off, this research is very time consuming.
Now, it is impossible to remove animals from animal
testing because there will be a cases where results
will be needed quickly. A good example would be in
the case of a global epidemic like small pox, the
black plague, or the current disease Ebola. In cases
such as these time needs to be taken into high
account because the longer it takes to create a cure
or vaccine the more time the disease has to spread.
Not to mention that cosmetic companies also rely

on animal testing to see if their newest products are safe for the consumer and as they say in
business Time is Money so these alternative research labs would not be of very much
interest to these companies.
The policy change that I would like to propose to the issues stated in my report on animal
research is to limit the number of institutions/labs conducting this research per region or
country. For instance in the United States alone there are more than 1,100 labs that perform
animal research, now if you include all the other countries around the world that are involved
this number dramatically rises. There are tens of thousands of animal research Labs that are
operational around the world. By limiting the number of labs per country we automatically
Reduce the number of animals and we Refine the ethics used with them. Each region can be
dedicated to a specific research goal, for example one location can be dedicated to vaccines,
another to cosmetics, another to research for cures and so on and so forth.
Animal Research is a privilege that has been critical to the advancement and studies on
human health and science, and like all privileges it requires a level of responsibility and
respect.

References:
Ferdowsian, H. R., & Beck, N. (2011). Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding
Animal Testing and Research. Plos ONE,6(9), 1-4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024059
(2009, July). Research issues. Retrieved from The National Humane Education Society
website: http://www.nhes.org/articles/view/750
Franco, N. (2013). Animal Experiments in Biomedical Research: A Historical Perspective. Animals
(2076-2615), 3(1), 238-273. doi:10.3390/ani3010238