Dear Future President,

I know that you can help me with in the four years that you will be president. I, along with many others, are concerned about the wellbeing of the animals being tested in laboratories, some are being forced to do things against their will and being abused. I know that you can remove animals from laboratories, and then maybe I’ll vote for you again in the next four years.

I care deeply about animals. My dog, BJ, was abused and abandoned when he was younger. When he got to the pound, the trust in people were gone. He was about to get put down when my uncle bought him and gave him to us. He started to gain trust in my uncle, but then he gave BJ to my family. When we got home, he was more independent and liked being by himself. Years after caring for him, he has finally been able to be comfortable and happy with everyone, including our other dog, Max, and guests. What I’m saying is that in the near future, if animals are being abused and treated wrong, then they will start being violent and very dangerous.

In March of 2009, the Human Society of the United States found 338 possible violations of the Animal Welfare act at the federally funded New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana. Some of the primates housed at the NIRC were suffering from such severe stress that they engaged in self-mutilation. Video footage shows that they had large gaping wounds in their arms and legs. The video also shows infant primates being forcefully removed from their mothers; infant primates being awake during painful experiments, and chimpanzees being intimidated and shot with a dart gun. Things like this don’t happen often, and I hope they’ll never happen again, but if things like this continue on to a large mass of animals, their population will start to decrease in the near several years, which may cause extinction in some cases.

In a 2011 incident at the University of California at Davis Center for Neuroscience, three baby mice were found sealed alive in a plastic baggie and left unattended, according to Sacramento Bee. I’m positive that this was not a part of the experiment to help in the research of health. Do you think things like this are necessary? Even if this was a part of their experiment, animal tests may mislead researcher into avoiding potential cures and treatments. Some chemicals that are harmful to animals may prove to be helpful to humans.

Many animals are being abused and forced to do things against their will. As a solution, maybe, if we were to put the money and resources into finding a solution that excludes animals from human health, we could help animals.Discriminating against animals because they do not have the cognitive ability, language or moral judgement that us humans do is just as bad as discriminating against humans being with severe mental impairments. A solution could be that we could use human cell samples and a sample of the test instead of using animals. I know that you will take this letter into account and fix this problem.

Future Voter,

Victoria V.