Dear President Trump,

My name is Jessica and I believe that animal testing should be prohibited on certain animals. Animals are a key part to our survival and if we test on the majority of them we will have no proteins, which means plenty of human beings will die. Animal testing is also very expensive and some of the substances may never even be used for anything useful. This issue is hurting the animals just as well as us. Why should we hurt innocent animals who have done nothing to us? Yes, using animals for testing is safer, but is it worth hurting harmless animals when there are other options.

95% of animals used in experiments are not protected by the Federal Animal Welfare Act, which excludes birds, rats, and mice bred for research, cold-blooded animals such as reptiles, and most fish. More than 90% of scientists agreed that the use of animals in research is essential. Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans and mice are 98% genetically similar. So, instead of using chimpanzees we could use mice which are just as similar to humans as chimpanzees are, plus mice only have a lifespan of one to two years when chimpanzees can have a lifespan of forty to sixty years. The United States and Gabon are the only two countries that allow testing on chimpanzees, but you have the power to change that for the better. The United States also has states experimenting on dogs (New Jersey 6,077), cats (Minnesota 2,708), and primates (Massachusetts 7,458).

In 1997, two researchers Joseph and Charles Vacanti grew a human “ear” sealed from implanted cow cartilage cells on the back of a living mouse to explore the possibility of fabricating body parts for plastic and reconstructive surgery. This is just a stated another reason why mice are better for testing on than chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and fish. If mice have pretty much the same genetics as we do why don’t we use ore mice for testing than other animals?

In my opinion animal testing is cruel, but is safer for humans. If we only use animals that are closer to us genetically and cellular and have a short lifespan I say that's the safest and more humane way to conduct experiments. In time if we keep testing on goat, sheep, cow, and pigs we will have to meat or milk, which are part of two main food groups that keep us healthy. Yes, these animals will help testing for new medicines, but they are not the only animals that we could use. I don’t know what your opinion is, but I do know that you are one of the only people who can stop this insanity. For a fact I do know that there are thousands of other people who acknowledge this quandary. I believe that animals have rights and this is a start and I hope you agree

Sincerely,

Jessica