Dear Next President,

Our country faces issues each day, resulting in a challenge for us to overcome or change these issues to work better for both our community and environment. Animal testing is a current controversial issue with lots of people and with a bulk of strong opinions. Many in favor, saying it’s beneficial to our way of life or lifestyle. I’m here to tell you it’s unnecessary. Animals are killed everyday for the purpose of our benefit. While these animals die, alternatives to animal testing exist but are not practiced nearly enough. Governments, including ours have made attempts to limit animal testing. Although these attempts have been slightly successful, animal testing very much still exists. We need more animal rights laws. Once companies get their hands on these animals, they are free to experiment however they would like. Lets protect our furry friends and promote an alternative that could work just as well, if not better, than killing animals.

Animal testing can be very misleading with inaccurate results. Although it is not common, animal testing can actually yield faulty information, causing disease and eventually product recall. In the 1950s a sleeping pill by the name of thalidomide “caused 10,000 babies to be born with deformities” (ProCon). The pill was previously animal tested. Scientists are good at what they do and this rarely ever happens however it’s still a possibility. User error can occur any point. If company puts all their trust into animal testing, and false information is given. A recall will be put in place after the third or fourth problem reported. This recall can be death to a company that has much to lose. Not to mention the inconvenience of so many people. Alternative methods offer accurate results in a better time frame.

Every potential threat that we have the chance of taking into our body is animal tested. Nearly “every medical breakthrough in the past 100 years has resulted from research on animals” (ProCon). Although this is a very beneficial thing, a countless number animals still die everyday because of it. Cosmetics are the most obvious people handle commonly throughout the household. Every brush of lipstick or puff of powder you put on your face, an animal died for that. Our environments population is going down solely for the purpose of our benefit. That is a sad statement when we have experiments that could do the exact same thing.

Substitutes to animal testing are coming to light in numerous ways. One in particular is catching the eye of most scientists. This method is called the 3Rs principle. Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. Although it is not an exact method, the 3Rs are in place to foster and support different methods. These ensure that the alternative methods are just as accurate as animal testing itself. Replacement is the research actually finding an alternative method. This requires months and even years of research to find another method. Then comes reduction. After finding a productive, alternative method, it’s time for reduction of animal testing. This is done by various movements and protests around the globe. The final process is refinement. This is scientists final test to make sure their alternative method is successful. After the 3Rs are completed and the alternative method is put in place, this method will prove to be very successful. The 3Rs will provide more stable ways to test for toxins in products.

In conclusion, scientists should use the 3Rs to replace current animal testing methods. Not only do these other methods exist, but they are more productive and cause less of an issue to the public. The general public is the key. They are ones affected the most by this decision to switch to more convenient ways of testing products. They are the ones that will catch the diseases when animals yield the wrong results. They are the ones who will suffer from depression due to all the animals killed. Knowing that it’s their fault for their death in the first place. There are already many groups of people making an effort for my argument. Hear them out in a sense of compassion and heart. All they want is to be heard and for their efforts to be meaningful. So I plead to you, the next President of the United States, make an effort for possible alternatives to become a reality. And for animal testing to become something we once knew.