Dear President-Elect Trump,

I am Sara Kistner and I am writing to you about the experimentation of scientific or commercial testing on animals. Animal testing has been very useful to society because of its medical contributions, however, often times the animals are deprived of food and water or are physically restrained for long periods of time. Along with that, the methods of euthanizing the test subjects are cruel, the methods include: asphyxiation, neck-snapping, or decapitation.

Along with the inhumane methods of euthanasia, not all drugs that pass animal tests are safe for humans. Such as the 1950s sleeping pill thalidomide, which caused around 10,000 babies to be born with severe deformities, however, most animals that are used in experiments didn’t show any of these side effects. And the arthritis drug Vioxx had a healthy effect on mice but several people died before the drug was taken off the shelves. These are some reasons why I believe that animal testing is wrong.

There are alternatives however. Scientists are able to take blood cells from humans, place them in petri dishes and then analyze them or even run tests without harming anyone. Scientists also have the option of using artificial human skin for products such as, soaps or shampoos. Thank you for your time.